Dynamic seam adjustment of image overlap zones from multi-camera source images

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to providing a more accurate presentation of a vehicle&#39;s surroundings when the presentation combines images from multiple cameras. Cameras may capture the same portion of the environment. If an object is within view of at least two cameras, each camera produces a portion of an overall view, such as a 360 degree synthetic top-down view. The seam, angle and/or geometry, angle between any two images is dynamically determined, such as due to proximity (or lack thereof) to an object. As a result the synthetic top-down view may present an image of an object more prominently and/or avoid having the seam between camera images fall on the image of the object, which may otherwise result in the image of the object being omitted from both camera images.

FIELD

The present disclosure is generally directed to vehicle systems and moreparticularly to methods and systems for providing a 360 degree surroundview display in a vehicle.

BACKGROUND

Vehicle display systems typically provide a camera image to display theenvironment in close proximity to the vehicle, such as to assist adriver in backing the vehicle with another object (e.g., anothervehicle, pillar, wall, etc.) in close proximity. Systems have beendeveloped that utilize multiple cameras and present combination of theresulting images in a synthetic top-down view, that is, presenting aview having the appearance of being taken above the vehicle and lookingdown, but formed from images provided by vehicle-mounted cameras. As abenefit, a driver may be focusing on backing a vehicle and viewing adisplay showing the backup camera image, as well as be aware of motionor objects elsewhere around the vehicle as presented by the samedisplay. While the image presented on a display may resemble a top-downview, the vantage point of the cameras are limited to that which may beseen from the vehicle's mounting locations of the cameras. For example,a backup camera can provide more accurate imaging when placed close tobumper height of the vehicle, such as to better observe the distancebetween the reversing vehicle and an object behind. However, presentingsuch an image as a portion of an apparent top-down view requires theimage to be heavily transformed, such as a trapezoidal correction.Additionally, the cameras utilized for imaging a vehicle's surroundingsare typically fitted with a fish-eye lenses, which requires additionalimage processing and results in additional errors, especially whencombined with other images from other cameras. Combining images withimages from neighboring cameras results in numerous image errors, suchas artifacts or blind spots, that present inaccurate information to adriver. Hence, there is a need for improved methods and systems forproviding an imaging system that more accurately portrays the vehiclessurroundings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a vehicle in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the vehicle in accordance with at least someembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3A is a block diagram of an embodiment of a communicationenvironment of the vehicle in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3B is a block diagram of an embodiment of interior sensors withinthe vehicle in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3C is a block diagram of an embodiment of a navigation system ofthe vehicle in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the instrument panel of the vehicleaccording to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a communications subsystemof the vehicle;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a computing environment associated with theembodiments presented herein;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a computing device associated with one ormore components described herein;

FIG. 8 is a view of a vehicle in accordance with at least someembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a display presenting images thereon in accordance with atleast some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a display presenting images thereon in accordance with atleast some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a fisheye distortion mask in accordance with at least someembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a first camera image in accordance with at least someembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a second camera image in accordance with at least someembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a process in accordance with at least some embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a unified view of a vehicle's surroundings in accordance withat least some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 16 is a process in accordance with at least some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in connectionwith a vehicle, and in some embodiments, an electric vehicle,rechargeable electric vehicle, and/or hybrid-electric vehicle andassociated systems. More specifically, the imaging systems that may bedeployed to capture images around the vehicle and present the images toa processor for further manipulation and/or a human, such as a driver ofthe vehicle.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a vehicle 100 in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure. The electric vehicle 100comprises a vehicle front 110, vehicle aft or rear 120, vehicle roof130, at least one vehicle side 160, a vehicle undercarriage 140, and avehicle interior 150. In any event, the vehicle 100 may include a frame104 and one or more body panels 108 mounted or affixed thereto. Thevehicle 100 may include one or more interior components (e.g.,components inside an interior space 150, or user space, of a vehicle100, etc.), exterior components (e.g., components outside of theinterior space 150, or user space, of a vehicle 100, etc.), drivesystems, controls systems, structural components, etc.

Although shown in the form of a car, it should be appreciated that thevehicle 100 described herein may include any conveyance or model of aconveyance, where the conveyance was designed for the purpose of movingone or more tangible objects, such as people, animals, cargo, and thelike. The term “vehicle” does not require that a conveyance moves or iscapable of movement. Typical vehicles may include but are in no waylimited to cars, trucks, motorcycles, busses, automobiles, trains,railed conveyances, boats, ships, marine conveyances, submarineconveyances, airplanes, space craft, flying machines, human-poweredconveyances, and the like.

In some embodiments, the vehicle 100 may include a number of sensors,devices, and/or systems that are capable of assisting in drivingoperations, e.g., autonomous or semi-autonomous control. Examples of thevarious sensors and systems may include, but are in no way limited to,one or more of cameras (e.g., independent, stereo, combined image,etc.), infrared (IR) sensors, radio frequency (RF) sensors, ultrasonicsensors (e.g., transducers, transceivers, etc.), RADAR sensors (e.g.,object-detection sensors and/or systems), LIDAR (Light Imaging,Detection, And Ranging) systems, odometry sensors and/or devices (e.g.,encoders, etc.), orientation sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes,magnetometer, etc.), navigation sensors and systems (e.g., GPS, etc.),and other ranging, imaging, and/or object-detecting sensors. The sensorsmay be disposed in an interior space 150 of the vehicle 100 and/or on anoutside of the vehicle 100. In some embodiments, the sensors and systemsmay be disposed in one or more portions of a vehicle 100 (e.g., theframe 104, a body panel, a compartment, etc.).

The vehicle sensors and systems may be selected and/or configured tosuit a level of operation associated with the vehicle 100. Among otherthings, the number of sensors used in a system may be altered toincrease or decrease information available to a vehicle control system(e.g., affecting control capabilities of the vehicle 100). Additionally,or alternatively, the sensors and systems may be part of one or moreadvanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) associated with a vehicle 100.In any event, the sensors and systems may be used to provide drivingassistance at any level of operation (e.g., from fully-manual tofully-autonomous operations, etc.) as described herein.

The various levels of vehicle control and/or operation can be describedas corresponding to a level of autonomy associated with a vehicle 100for vehicle driving operations. For instance, at Level 0, orfully-manual driving operations, a driver (e.g., a human driver) may beresponsible for all the driving control operations (e.g., steering,accelerating, braking, etc.) associated with the vehicle. Level 0 may bereferred to as a “No Automation” level. At Level 1, the vehicle may beresponsible for a limited number of the driving operations associatedwith the vehicle, while the driver is still responsible for most drivingcontrol operations. An example of a Level 1 vehicle may include avehicle in which the throttle control and/or braking operations may becontrolled by the vehicle (e.g., cruise control operations, etc.). Level1 may be referred to as a “Driver Assistance” level. At Level 2, thevehicle may collect information (e.g., via one or more drivingassistance systems, sensors, etc.) about an environment of the vehicle(e.g., surrounding area, roadway, traffic, ambient conditions, etc.) anduse the collected information to control driving operations (e.g.,steering, accelerating, braking, etc.) associated with the vehicle. In aLevel 2 autonomous vehicle, the driver may be required to perform otheraspects of driving operations not controlled by the vehicle. Level 2 maybe referred to as a “Partial Automation” level. It should be appreciatedthat Levels 0-2 all involve the driver monitoring the driving operationsof the vehicle.

At Level 3, the driver may be separated from controlling all the drivingoperations of the vehicle except when the vehicle makes a request forthe operator to act or intervene in controlling one or more drivingoperations. In other words, the driver may be separated from controllingthe vehicle unless the driver is required to take over for the vehicle.Level 3 may be referred to as a “Conditional Automation” level. At Level4, the driver may be separated from controlling all the drivingoperations of the vehicle and the vehicle may control driving operationseven when a user fails to respond to a request to intervene. Level 4 maybe referred to as a “High Automation” level. At Level 5, the vehicle cancontrol all the driving operations associated with the vehicle in alldriving modes. The vehicle in Level 5 may continually monitor traffic,vehicular, roadway, and/or environmental conditions while driving thevehicle. In Level 5, there is no human driver interaction required inany driving mode. Accordingly, Level 5 may be referred to as a “FullAutomation” level. It should be appreciated that in Levels 3-5 thevehicle, and/or one or more automated driving systems associated withthe vehicle, monitors the driving operations of the vehicle and thedriving environment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 100 may, for example, include at leastone of a ranging and imaging system 112 (e.g., LIDAR, etc.), an imagingsensor 116A, 116F (e.g., camera, IR, etc.), a radio object-detection andranging system sensors 116B (e.g., RADAR, RF, etc.), ultrasonic sensors116C, and/or other object-detection sensors 116D, 116E. In someembodiments, the LIDAR system 112 and/or sensors may be mounted on aroof 130 of the vehicle 100. In one embodiment, the RADAR sensors 116Bmay be disposed at least at a front 110, aft 120, or side 160 of thevehicle 100. Among other things, the RADAR sensors may be used tomonitor and/or detect a position of other vehicles, pedestrians, and/orother objects near, or proximal to, the vehicle 100. While shownassociated with one or more areas of a vehicle 100, it should beappreciated that any of the sensors and systems 116A-K, 112 illustratedin FIGS. 1 and 2 may be disposed in, on, and/or about the vehicle 100 inany position, area, and/or zone of the vehicle 100.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a plan view of a vehicle 100 will be describedin accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. In particular,FIG. 2 shows a vehicle sensing environment 200 at least partiallydefined by the sensors and systems 116A-K, 112 disposed in, on, and/orabout the vehicle 100. Each sensor 116A-K may include an operationaldetection range R and operational detection angle. The operationaldetection range R may define the effective detection limit, or distance,of the sensor 116A-K. In some cases, this effective detection limit maybe defined as a distance from a portion of the sensor 116A-K (e.g., alens, sensing surface, etc.) to a point in space offset from the sensor116A-K. The effective detection limit may define a distance, beyondwhich, the sensing capabilities of the sensor 116A-K deteriorate, failto work, or are unreliable. In some embodiments, the effective detectionlimit may define a distance, within which, the sensing capabilities ofthe sensor 116A-K are able to provide accurate and/or reliable detectioninformation. The operational detection angle may define at least oneangle of a span, or between horizontal and/or vertical limits, of asensor 116A-K. As can be appreciated, the operational detection limitand the operational detection angle of a sensor 116A-K together maydefine the effective detection zone 216A-D (e.g., the effectivedetection area, and/or volume, etc.) of a sensor 116A-K.

In some embodiments, the vehicle 100 may include a ranging and imagingsystem 112 such as LIDAR, or the like. The ranging and imaging system112 may be configured to detect visual information in an environmentsurrounding the vehicle 100. The visual information detected in theenvironment surrounding the ranging and imaging system 112 may beprocessed (e.g., via one or more sensor and/or system processors, etc.)to generate a complete 360-degree view of an environment 200 around thevehicle. The ranging and imaging system 112 may be configured togenerate changing 360-degree views of the environment 200 in real-time,for instance, as the vehicle 100 drives. In some cases, the ranging andimaging system 112 may have an effective detection limit 204 that issome distance from the center of the vehicle 100 outward over 360degrees. The effective detection limit 204 of the ranging and imagingsystem 112 defines a view zone 208 (e.g., an area and/or volume, etc.)surrounding the vehicle 100. Any object falling outside of the view zone208 is in the undetected zone 212 and would not be detected by theranging and imaging system 112 of the vehicle 100.

Sensor data and information may be collected by one or more sensors orsystems 116A-K, 112 of the vehicle 100 monitoring the vehicle sensingenvironment 200. This information may be processed (e.g., via aprocessor, computer-vision system, etc.) to determine targets (e.g.,objects, signs, people, markings, roadways, conditions, etc.) inside oneor more detection zones 208, 216A-D associated with the vehicle sensingenvironment 200. In some cases, information from multiple sensors 116A-Kmay be processed to form composite sensor detection information. Forexample, a first sensor 116A and a second sensor 116F may correspond toa first camera 116A and a second camera 116F aimed in a forwardtraveling direction of the vehicle 100. In this example, imagescollected by the cameras 116A, 116F may be combined to form stereo imageinformation. This composite information may increase the capabilities ofa single sensor in the one or more sensors 116A-K by, for example,adding the ability to determine depth associated with targets in the oneor more detection zones 208, 216A-D. Similar image data may be collectedby rear view cameras (e.g., sensors 116G, 116H) aimed in a rearwardtraveling direction vehicle 100.

In some embodiments, multiple sensors 116A-K may be effectively joinedto increase a sensing zone and provide increased sensing coverage. Forinstance, multiple RADAR sensors 116B disposed on the front 110 of thevehicle may be joined to provide a zone 216B of coverage that spansacross an entirety of the front 110 of the vehicle. In some cases, themultiple RADAR sensors 116B may cover a detection zone 216B thatincludes one or more other sensor detection zones 216A. Theseoverlapping detection zones may provide redundant sensing, enhancedsensing, and/or provide greater detail in sensing within a particularportion (e.g., zone 216A) of a larger zone (e.g., zone 216B).Additionally, or alternatively, the sensors 116A-K of the vehicle 100may be arranged to create a complete coverage, via one or more sensingzones 208, 216A-D around the vehicle 100. In some areas, the sensingzones 216C of two or more sensors 116D, 116E may intersect at an overlapzone 220. In some areas, the angle and/or detection limit of two or moresensing zones 216C, 216D (e.g., of two or more sensors 116E, 116J, 116K)may meet at a virtual intersection point 224.

The vehicle 100 may include a number of sensors 116E, 116G, 116H, 116J,116K disposed proximal to the rear 120 of the vehicle 100. These sensorscan include, but are in no way limited to, an imaging sensor, camera,IR, a radio object-detection and ranging sensors, RADAR, RF, ultrasonicsensors, and/or other object-detection sensors. Among other things,these sensors 116E, 116G, 116H, 116J, 116K may detect targets near orapproaching the rear of the vehicle 100. For example, another vehicleapproaching the rear 120 of the vehicle 100 may be detected by one ormore of the ranging and imaging system (e.g., LIDAR) 112, rear-viewcameras 116G, 116H, and/or rear facing RADAR sensors 116J, 116K. Asdescribed above, the images from the rear-view cameras 116G, 116H may beprocessed to generate a stereo view (e.g., providing depth associatedwith an object or environment, etc.) for targets visible to both cameras116G, 116H. As another example, the vehicle 100 may be driving and oneor more of the ranging and imaging system 112, front-facing cameras116A, 116F, front-facing RADAR sensors 116B, and/or ultrasonic sensors116C may detect targets in front of the vehicle 100. This approach mayprovide critical sensor information to a vehicle control system in atleast one of the autonomous driving levels described above. Forinstance, when the vehicle 100 is driving autonomously (e.g., Level 3,Level 4, or Level 5) and detects other vehicles stopped in a travelpath, the sensor detection information may be sent to the vehiclecontrol system of the vehicle 100 to control a driving operation (e.g.,braking, decelerating, etc.) associated with the vehicle 100 (in thisexample, slowing the vehicle 100 as to avoid colliding with the stoppedother vehicles). As yet another example, the vehicle 100 may beoperating and one or more of the ranging and imaging system 112, and/orthe side-facing sensors 116D, 116E (e.g., RADAR, ultrasonic, camera,combinations thereof, and/or other type of sensor), may detect targetsat a side of the vehicle 100. It should be appreciated that the sensors116A-K may detect a target that is both at a side 160 and a front 110 ofthe vehicle 100 (e.g., disposed at a diagonal angle to a centerline ofthe vehicle 100 running from the front 110 of the vehicle 100 to therear 120 of the vehicle). Additionally, or alternatively, the sensors116A-K may detect a target that is both, or simultaneously, at a side160 and a rear 120 of the vehicle 100 (e.g., disposed at a diagonalangle to the centerline of the vehicle 100).

FIGS. 3A-3C are block diagrams of an embodiment of a communicationenvironment 300 of the vehicle 100 in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The communication system 300 may include one or morevehicle driving vehicle sensors and systems 304, sensor processors 340,sensor data memory 344, vehicle control system 348, communicationssubsystem 350, control data 364, computing devices 368, display devices372, and other components 374 that may be associated with a vehicle 100.These associated components may be electrically and/or communicativelycoupled to one another via at least one bus 360. In some embodiments,the one or more associated components may send and/or receive signalsacross a communication network 352 to at least one of a navigationsource 356A, a control source 356B, or some other entity 356N.

In accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure,the communication network 352 may comprise any type of knowncommunication medium or collection of communication media and may useany type of protocols, such as SIP, TCP/IP, SNA, IPX, AppleTalk, and thelike, to transport messages between endpoints. The communication network352 may include wired and/or wireless communication technologies. TheInternet is an example of the communication network 352 that constitutesan Internet Protocol (IP) network consisting of many computers,computing networks, and other communication devices located all over theworld, which are connected through many telephone systems and othermeans. Other examples of the communication network 352 include, withoutlimitation, a standard Plain Old Telephone System (POTS), an IntegratedServices Digital Network (ISDN), the Public Switched Telephone Network(PSTN), a Local Area Network (LAN), such as an Ethernet network, aToken-Ring network and/or the like, a Wide Area Network (WAN), a virtualnetwork, including without limitation a virtual private network (“VPN”);the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a cellular network, an infra-rednetwork; a wireless network (e.g., a network operating under any of theIEEE 802.9 suite of protocols, the Bluetooth® protocol known in the art,and/or any other wireless protocol), and any other type ofpacket-switched or circuit-switched network known in the art and/or anycombination of these and/or other networks. In addition, it can beappreciated that the communication network 352 need not be limited toany one network type, and instead may be comprised of a number ofdifferent networks and/or network types. The communication network 352may comprise a number of different communication media such as coaxialcable, copper cable/wire, fiber-optic cable, antennas fortransmitting/receiving wireless messages, and combinations thereof.

The driving vehicle sensors and systems 304 may include at least onenavigation 308 (e.g., global positioning system (GPS), etc.),orientation 312, odometry 316, LIDAR 320, RADAR 324, ultrasonic 328,camera 332, infrared (IR) 336, and/or other sensor or system 338. Thesedriving vehicle sensors and systems 304 may be similar, if notidentical, to the sensors and systems 116A-K, 112 described inconjunction with FIGS. 1 and 2.

The navigation sensor 308 may include one or more sensors havingreceivers and antennas that are configured to utilize a satellite-basednavigation system including a network of navigation satellites capableof providing geolocation and time information to at least one componentof the vehicle 100. Examples of the navigation sensor 308 as describedherein may include, but are not limited to, at least one of Garmin® GLO™family of GPS and GLONASS combination sensors, Garmin® GPS 15x™ familyof sensors, Garmin® GPS 16x™ family of sensors with high-sensitivityreceiver and antenna, Garmin® GPS 18x OEM family of high-sensitivity GPSsensors, Dewetron DEWE-VGPS series of GPS sensors, GlobalSat 1-Hz seriesof GPS sensors, other industry-equivalent navigation sensors and/orsystems, and may perform navigational and/or geolocation functions usingany known or future-developed standard and/or architecture.

The orientation sensor 312 may include one or more sensors configured todetermine an orientation of the vehicle 100 relative to at least onereference point. In some embodiments, the orientation sensor 312 mayinclude at least one pressure transducer, stress/strain gauge,accelerometer, gyroscope, and/or geomagnetic sensor. Examples of thenavigation sensor 308 as described herein may include, but are notlimited to, at least one of Bosch Sensortec BMX 160 series low-powerabsolute orientation sensors, Bosch Sensortec BMX055 9-axis sensors,Bosch Sensortec BMI055 6-axis inertial sensors, Bosch Sensortec BMI1606-axis inertial sensors, Bosch Sensortec BMF055 9-axis inertial sensors(accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer) with integrated Cortex M0+microcontroller, Bosch Sensortec BMP280 absolute barometric pressuresensors, Infineon TLV493D-A1B6 3D magnetic sensors, InfineonTLI493D-W1B6 3D magnetic sensors, Infineon TL family of 3D magneticsensors, Murata Electronics SCC2000 series combined gyro sensor andaccelerometer, Murata Electronics SCC1300 series combined gyro sensorand accelerometer, other industry-equivalent orientation sensors and/orsystems, which may perform orientation detection and/or determinationfunctions using any known or future-developed standard and/orarchitecture.

The odometry sensor and/or system 316 may include one or more componentsthat is configured to determine a change in position of the vehicle 100over time. In some embodiments, the odometry system 316 may utilize datafrom one or more other sensors and/or systems 304 in determining aposition (e.g., distance, location, etc.) of the vehicle 100 relative toa previously measured position for the vehicle 100. Additionally oralternatively, the odometry sensors 316 may include one or moreencoders, Hall speed sensors, and/or other measurement sensors/devicesconfigured to measure a wheel speed, rotation, and/or number ofrevolutions made over time. Examples of the odometry sensor/system 316as described herein may include, but are not limited to, at least one ofInfineon TLE4924/26/27/28C high-performance speed sensors, InfineonTL4941plusC(B) single chip differential Hall wheel-speed sensors,Infineon TL5041plusC Giant Mangnetoresistance (GMR) effect sensors,Infineon TL family of magnetic sensors, EPC Model 25SP Accu-CoderPro™incremental shaft encoders, EPC Model 30M compact incremental encoderswith advanced magnetic sensing and signal processing technology, EPCModel 925 absolute shaft encoders, EPC Model 958 absolute shaftencoders, EPC Model MA36S/MA63S/SA36S absolute shaft encoders, Dynapar™F18 commutating optical encoder, Dynapar™ HS35R family of phased arrayencoder sensors, other industry-equivalent odometry sensors and/orsystems, and may perform change in position detection and/ordetermination functions using any known or future-developed standardand/or architecture.

The LIDAR sensor/system 320 may include one or more componentsconfigured to measure distances to targets using laser illumination. Insome embodiments, the LIDAR sensor/system 320 may provide 3D imagingdata of an environment around the vehicle 100. The imaging data may beprocessed to generate a full 360-degree view of the environment aroundthe vehicle 100. The LIDAR sensor/system 320 may include a laser lightgenerator configured to generate a plurality of target illuminationlaser beams (e.g., laser light channels). In some embodiments, thisplurality of laser beams may be aimed at, or directed to, a rotatingreflective surface (e.g., a mirror) and guided outwardly from the LIDARsensor/system 320 into a measurement environment. The rotatingreflective surface may be configured to continually rotate 360 degreesabout an axis, such that the plurality of laser beams is directed in afull 360-degree range around the vehicle 100. A photodiode receiver ofthe LIDAR sensor/system 320 may detect when light from the plurality oflaser beams emitted into the measurement environment returns (e.g.,reflected echo) to the LIDAR sensor/system 320. The LIDAR sensor/system320 may calculate, based on a time associated with the emission of lightto the detected return of light, a distance from the vehicle 100 to theilluminated target. In some embodiments, the LIDAR sensor/system 320 maygenerate over 2.0 million points per second and have an effectiveoperational range of at least 100 meters. Examples of the LIDARsensor/system 320 as described herein may include, but are not limitedto, at least one of Velodyne® LiDAR™ HDL-64E 64-channel LIDAR sensors,Velodyne® LiDAR™ HDL-32E 32-channel LIDAR sensors, Velodyne® LiDAR™PUCK™ VLP-16 16-channel LIDAR sensors, Leica Geosystems Pegasus: Twomobile sensor platform, Garmin® LIDAR-Lite v3 measurement sensor,Quanergy M8 LiDAR sensors, Quanergy S3 solid state LiDAR sensor,LeddarTech® LeddarVU compact solid state fixed-beam LIDAR sensors, otherindustry-equivalent LIDAR sensors and/or systems, and may performilluminated target and/or obstacle detection in an environment aroundthe vehicle 100 using any known or future-developed standard and/orarchitecture.

The RADAR sensors 324 may include one or more radio components that areconfigured to detect objects/targets in an environment of the vehicle100. In some embodiments, the RADAR sensors 324 may determine adistance, position, and/or movement vector (e.g., angle, speed, etc.)associated with a target over time. The RADAR sensors 324 may include atransmitter configured to generate and emit electromagnetic waves (e.g.,radio, microwaves, etc.) and a receiver configured to detect returnedelectromagnetic waves. In some embodiments, the RADAR sensors 324 mayinclude at least one processor configured to interpret the returnedelectromagnetic waves and determine locational properties of targets.Examples of the RADAR sensors 324 as described herein may include, butare not limited to, at least one of Infineon RASIC™ RTN7735PLtransmitter and RRN7745PL/46PL receiver sensors, Autoliv ASP VehicleRADAR sensors, Delphi L2C0051TR 77 GHz ESR Electronically Scanning Radarsensors, Fujitsu Ten Ltd. Automotive Compact 77 GHz 3D Electronic ScanMillimeter Wave Radar sensors, other industry-equivalent RADAR sensorsand/or systems, and may perform radio target and/or obstacle detectionin an environment around the vehicle 100 using any known orfuture-developed standard and/or architecture.

The ultrasonic sensors 328 may include one or more components that areconfigured to detect objects/targets in an environment of the vehicle100. In some embodiments, the ultrasonic sensors 328 may determine adistance, position, and/or movement vector (e.g., angle, speed, etc.)associated with a target over time. The ultrasonic sensors 328 mayinclude an ultrasonic transmitter and receiver, or transceiver,configured to generate and emit ultrasound waves and interpret returnedechoes of those waves. In some embodiments, the ultrasonic sensors 328may include at least one processor configured to interpret the returnedultrasonic waves and determine locational properties of targets.Examples of the ultrasonic sensors 328 as described herein may include,but are not limited to, at least one of Texas Instruments TIDA-00151automotive ultrasonic sensor interface IC sensors, MaxBotix® MB8450ultrasonic proximity sensor, MaxBotix® ParkSonar™-EZ ultrasonicproximity sensors, Murata Electronics MA40H1S-R open-structureultrasonic sensors, Murata Electronics MA40S4R/S open-structureultrasonic sensors, Murata Electronics MA58MF14-7N waterproof ultrasonicsensors, other industry-equivalent ultrasonic sensors and/or systems,and may perform ultrasonic target and/or obstacle detection in anenvironment around the vehicle 100 using any known or future-developedstandard and/or architecture.

The camera sensors 332 may include one or more components configured todetect image information associated with an environment of the vehicle100. In some embodiments, the camera sensors 332 may include a lens,filter, image sensor, and/or a digital image processor. It is an aspectof the present disclosure that multiple camera sensors 332 may be usedtogether to generate stereo images providing depth measurements.Examples of the camera sensors 332 as described herein may include, butare not limited to, at least one of ON Semiconductor® MT9V024 GlobalShutter VGA GS CMOS image sensors, Teledyne DALSA Falcon2 camerasensors, CMOSIS CMV50000 high-speed CMOS image sensors, otherindustry-equivalent camera sensors and/or systems, and may performvisual target and/or obstacle detection in an environment around thevehicle 100 using any known or future-developed standard and/orarchitecture.

The infrared (IR) sensors 336 may include one or more componentsconfigured to detect image information associated with an environment ofthe vehicle 100. The IR sensors 336 may be configured to detect targetsin low-light, dark, or poorly-lit environments. The IR sensors 336 mayinclude an IR light emitting element (e.g., IR light emitting diode(LED), etc.) and an IR photodiode. In some embodiments, the IRphotodiode may be configured to detect returned IR light at or about thesame wavelength to that emitted by the IR light emitting element. Insome embodiments, the IR sensors 336 may include at least one processorconfigured to interpret the returned IR light and determine locationalproperties of targets. The IR sensors 336 may be configured to detectand/or measure a temperature associated with a target (e.g., an object,pedestrian, other vehicle, etc.). Examples of IR sensors 336 asdescribed herein may include, but are not limited to, at least one ofOpto Diode lead-salt IR array sensors, Opto Diode OD-850 Near-IR LEDsensors, Opto Diode SA/SHA727 steady state IR emitters and IR detectors,FLIR® LS microbolometer sensors, FLIR® TacFLIR 380-HD InSb MWIR FPA andHD MWIR thermal sensors, FLIR® VOx 640×480 pixel detector sensors,Delphi IR sensors, other industry-equivalent IR sensors and/or systems,and may perform IR visual target and/or obstacle detection in anenvironment around the vehicle 100 using any known or future-developedstandard and/or architecture.

The vehicle 100 can also include one or more interior sensors 337.Interior sensors 337 can measure characteristics of the insideenvironment of the vehicle 100. The interior sensors 337 may be asdescribed in conjunction with FIG. 3B.

A navigation system 302 can include any hardware and/or software used tonavigate the vehicle either manually or autonomously. The navigationsystem 302 may be as described in conjunction with FIG. 3C.

In some embodiments, the driving vehicle sensors and systems 304 mayinclude other sensors 338 and/or combinations of the sensors 306-337described above. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of thesensors 306-337 described above may include one or more processorsconfigured to process and/or interpret signals detected by the one ormore sensors 306-337. In some embodiments, the processing of at leastsome sensor information provided by the vehicle sensors and systems 304may be processed by at least one sensor processor 340. Raw and/orprocessed sensor data may be stored in a sensor data memory 344 storagemedium. In some embodiments, the sensor data memory 344 may storeinstructions used by the sensor processor 340 for processing sensorinformation provided by the sensors and systems 304. In any event, thesensor data memory 344 may be a disk drive, optical storage device,solid-state storage device such as a random access memory (“RAM”) and/ora read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable, flash-updateable,and/or the like.

The vehicle control system 348 may receive processed sensor informationfrom the sensor processor 340 and determine to control an aspect of thevehicle 100. Controlling an aspect of the vehicle 100 may includepresenting information via one or more display devices 372 associatedwith the vehicle, sending commands to one or more computing devices 368associated with the vehicle, and/or controlling a driving operation ofthe vehicle. In some embodiments, the vehicle control system 348 maycorrespond to one or more computing systems that control drivingoperations of the vehicle 100 in accordance with the Levels of drivingautonomy described above. In one embodiment, the vehicle control system348 may operate a speed of the vehicle 100 by controlling an outputsignal to the accelerator and/or braking system of the vehicle. In thisexample, the vehicle control system 348 may receive sensor datadescribing an environment surrounding the vehicle 100 and, based on thesensor data received, determine to adjust the acceleration, poweroutput, and/or braking of the vehicle 100. The vehicle control system348 may additionally control steering and/or other driving functions ofthe vehicle 100.

The vehicle control system 348 may communicate, in real-time, with thedriving sensors and systems 304 forming a feedback loop. In particular,upon receiving sensor information describing a condition of targets inthe environment surrounding the vehicle 100, the vehicle control system348 may autonomously make changes to a driving operation of the vehicle100. The vehicle control system 348 may then receive subsequent sensorinformation describing any change to the condition of the targetsdetected in the environment as a result of the changes made to thedriving operation. This continual cycle of observation (e.g., via thesensors, etc.) and action (e.g., selected control or non-control ofvehicle operations, etc.) allows the vehicle 100 to operate autonomouslyin the environment.

In some embodiments, the one or more components of the vehicle 100(e.g., the driving vehicle sensors 304, vehicle control system 348,display devices 372, etc.) may communicate across the communicationnetwork 352 to one or more entities 356A-N via a communicationssubsystem 350 of the vehicle 100. Embodiments of the communicationssubsystem 350 are described in greater detail in conjunction with FIG.5. For instance, the navigation sensors 308 may receive globalpositioning, location, and/or navigational information from a navigationsource 356A. In some embodiments, the navigation source 356A may be aglobal navigation satellite system (GNSS) similar, if not identical, toNAVSTAR GPS, GLONASS, EU Galileo, and/or the BeiDou Navigation SatelliteSystem (BDS) to name a few.

In some embodiments, the vehicle control system 348 may receive controlinformation from one or more control sources 356B. The control source356 may provide vehicle control information including autonomous drivingcontrol commands, vehicle operation override control commands, and thelike. The control source 356 may correspond to an autonomous vehiclecontrol system, a traffic control system, an administrative controlentity, and/or some other controlling server. It is an aspect of thepresent disclosure that the vehicle control system 348 and/or othercomponents of the vehicle 100 may exchange communications with thecontrol source 356 across the communication network 352 and via thecommunications subsystem 350.

Information associated with controlling driving operations of thevehicle 100 may be stored in a control data memory 364 storage medium.The control data memory 364 may store instructions used by the vehiclecontrol system 348 for controlling driving operations of the vehicle100, historical control information, autonomous driving control rules,and the like. In some embodiments, the control data memory 364 may be adisk drive, optical storage device, solid-state storage device such as arandom access memory (“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), whichcan be programmable, flash-updateable, and/or the like.

In addition to the mechanical components described herein, the vehicle100 may include a number of user interface devices. The user interfacedevices receive and translate human input into a mechanical movement orelectrical signal or stimulus. The human input may be one or more ofmotion (e.g., body movement, body part movement, in two-dimensional orthree-dimensional space, etc.), voice, touch, and/or physicalinteraction with the components of the vehicle 100. In some embodiments,the human input may be configured to control one or more functions ofthe vehicle 100 and/or systems of the vehicle 100 described herein. Userinterfaces may include, but are in no way limited to, at least onegraphical user interface of a display device, steering wheel ormechanism, transmission lever or button (e.g., including park, neutral,reverse, and/or drive positions, etc.), throttle control pedal ormechanism, brake control pedal or mechanism, power control switch,communications equipment, etc.

FIG. 3B shows a block diagram of an embodiment of interior sensors 337for a vehicle 100. The interior sensors 337 may be arranged into one ormore groups, based at least partially on the function of the interiorsensors 337. For example, the interior space of a vehicle 100 mayinclude environmental sensors, user interface sensor(s), and/or safetysensors. Additionally or alternatively, there may be sensors associatedwith various devices inside the vehicle (e.g., smart phones, tablets,mobile computers, wearables, etc.)

Environmental sensors may comprise sensors configured to collect datarelating to the internal environment of a vehicle 100. Examples ofenvironmental sensors may include one or more of, but are not limitedto: oxygen/air sensors 301, temperature sensors 303, humidity sensors305, light/photo sensors 307, and more. The oxygen/air sensors 301 maybe configured to detect a quality or characteristic of the air in theinterior space 108 of the vehicle 100 (e.g., ratios and/or types ofgasses comprising the air inside the vehicle 100, dangerous gas levels,safe gas levels, etc.). Temperature sensors 303 may be configured todetect temperature readings of one or more objects, users 216, and/orareas of a vehicle 100. Humidity sensors 305 may detect an amount ofwater vapor present in the air inside the vehicle 100. The light/photosensors 307 can detect an amount of light present in the vehicle 100.Further, the light/photo sensors 307 may be configured to detect variouslevels of light intensity associated with light in the vehicle 100.

User interface sensors may comprise sensors configured to collect datarelating to one or more users (e.g., a driver and/or passenger(s)) in avehicle 100. As can be appreciated, the user interface sensors mayinclude sensors that are configured to collect data from users 216 inone or more areas of the vehicle 100. Examples of user interface sensorsmay include one or more of, but are not limited to: infrared sensors309, motion sensors 311, weight sensors 313, wireless network sensors315, biometric sensors 317, camera (or image) sensors 319, audio sensors321, and more.

Infrared sensors 309 may be used to measure IR light irradiating from atleast one surface, user, or other object in the vehicle 100. Among otherthings, the Infrared sensors 309 may be used to measure temperatures,form images (especially in low light conditions), identify users 216,and even detect motion in the vehicle 100.

The motion sensors 311 may detect motion and/or movement of objectsinside the vehicle 100. Optionally, the motion sensors 311 may be usedalone or in combination to detect movement. For example, a user may beoperating a vehicle 100 (e.g., while driving, etc.) when a passenger inthe rear of the vehicle 100 unbuckles a safety belt and proceeds to moveabout the vehicle 10. In this example, the movement of the passengercould be detected by the motion sensors 311. In response to detectingthe movement and/or the direction associated with the movement, thepassenger may be prevented from interfacing with and/or accessing atleast some of the vehicle control features. As can be appreciated, theuser may be alerted of the movement/motion such that the user can act toprevent the passenger from interfering with the vehicle controls.Optionally, the number of motion sensors in a vehicle may be increasedto increase an accuracy associated with motion detected in the vehicle100.

Weight sensors 313 may be employed to collect data relating to objectsand/or users in various areas of the vehicle 100. In some cases, theweight sensors 313 may be included in the seats and/or floor of avehicle 100. Optionally, the vehicle 100 may include a wireless networksensor 315. This sensor 315 may be configured to detect one or morewireless network(s) inside the vehicle 100. Examples of wirelessnetworks may include, but are not limited to, wireless communicationsutilizing Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi™, ZigBee, IEEE 802.11, and other wirelesstechnology standards. For example, a mobile hotspot may be detectedinside the vehicle 100 via the wireless network sensor 315. In thiscase, the vehicle 100 may determine to utilize and/or share the mobilehotspot detected via/with one or more other devices associated with thevehicle 100.

Biometric sensors 317 may be employed to identify and/or recordcharacteristics associated with a user. It is anticipated that biometricsensors 317 can include at least one of image sensors, IR sensors,fingerprint readers, weight sensors, load cells, force transducers,heart rate monitors, blood pressure monitors, and the like as providedherein.

The camera sensors 319 may record still images, video, and/orcombinations thereof. Camera sensors 319 may be used alone or incombination to identify objects, users, and/or other features, insidethe vehicle 100. Two or more camera sensors 319 may be used incombination to form, among other things, stereo and/or three-dimensional(3D) images. The stereo images can be recorded and/or used to determinedepth associated with objects and/or users in a vehicle 100. Further,the camera sensors 319 used in combination may determine the complexgeometry associated with identifying characteristics of a user. Forexample, the camera sensors 319 may be used to determine dimensionsbetween various features of a user's face (e.g., the depth/distance froma user's nose to a user's cheeks, a linear distance between the centerof a user's eyes, and more). These dimensions may be used to verify,record, and even modify characteristics that serve to identify a user.The camera sensors 319 may also be used to determine movement associatedwith objects and/or users within the vehicle 100. It should beappreciated that the number of image sensors used in a vehicle 100 maybe increased to provide greater dimensional accuracy and/or views of adetected image in the vehicle 100.

The audio sensors 321 may be configured to receive audio input from auser of the vehicle 100. The audio input from a user may correspond tovoice commands, conversations detected in the vehicle 100, phone callsmade in the vehicle 100, and/or other audible expressions made in thevehicle 100. Audio sensors 321 may include, but are not limited to,microphones and other types of acoustic-to-electric transducers orsensors. Optionally, the interior audio sensors 321 may be configured toreceive and convert sound waves into an equivalent analog or digitalsignal. The interior audio sensors 321 may serve to determine one ormore locations associated with various sounds in the vehicle 100. Thelocation of the sounds may be determined based on a comparison of volumelevels, intensity, and the like, between sounds detected by two or moreinterior audio sensors 321. For instance, a first audio sensors 321 maybe located in a first area of the vehicle 100 and a second audio sensors321 may be located in a second area of the vehicle 100. If a sound isdetected at a first volume level by the first audio sensors 321 A and asecond, higher, volume level by the second audio sensors 321 in thesecond area of the vehicle 100, the sound may be determined to be closerto the second area of the vehicle 100. As can be appreciated, the numberof sound receivers used in a vehicle 100 may be increased (e.g., morethan two, etc.) to increase measurement accuracy surrounding sounddetection and location, or source, of the sound (e.g., viatriangulation, etc.).

The safety sensors may comprise sensors configured to collect datarelating to the safety of a user and/or one or more components of avehicle 100. Examples of safety sensors may include one or more of, butare not limited to: force sensors 325, mechanical motion sensors 327,orientation sensors 329, restraint sensors 331, and more.

The force sensors 325 may include one or more sensors inside the vehicle100 configured to detect a force observed in the vehicle 100. Oneexample of a force sensor 325 may include a force transducer thatconverts measured forces (e.g., force, weight, pressure, etc.) intooutput signals. Mechanical motion sensors 327 may correspond toencoders, accelerometers, damped masses, and the like. Optionally, themechanical motion sensors 327 may be adapted to measure the force ofgravity (i.e., G-force) as observed inside the vehicle 100. Measuringthe G-force observed inside a vehicle 100 can provide valuableinformation related to a vehicle's acceleration, deceleration,collisions, and/or forces that may have been suffered by one or moreusers in the vehicle 100. Orientation sensors 329 can includeaccelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetic sensors, and the like that areconfigured to detect an orientation associated with the vehicle 100.

The restraint sensors 331 may correspond to sensors associated with oneor more restraint devices and/or systems in a vehicle 100. Seatbelts andairbags are examples of restraint devices and/or systems. As can beappreciated, the restraint devices and/or systems may be associated withone or more sensors that are configured to detect a state of thedevice/system. The state may include extension, engagement, retraction,disengagement, deployment, and/or other electrical or mechanicalconditions associated with the device/system.

The associated device sensors 323 can include any sensors that areassociated with a device in the vehicle 100. As previously stated,typical devices may include smart phones, tablets, laptops, mobilecomputers, and the like. It is anticipated that the various sensorsassociated with these devices can be employed by the vehicle controlsystem 348. For example, a typical smart phone can include, an imagesensor, an IR sensor, audio sensor, gyroscope, accelerometer, wirelessnetwork sensor, fingerprint reader, and more. It is an aspect of thepresent disclosure that one or more of these associated device sensors323 may be used by one or more subsystems of the vehicle 100.

FIG. 3C illustrates a GPS/Navigation subsystem(s) 302. The navigationsubsystem(s) 302 can be any present or future-built navigation systemthat may use location data, for example, from the Global PositioningSystem (GPS), to provide navigation information or control the vehicle100. The navigation subsystem(s) 302 can include several components,such as, one or more of, but not limited to: a GPS Antenna/receiver 331,a location module 333, a maps database 335, etc. Generally, the severalcomponents or modules 331-335 may be hardware, software, firmware,computer readable media, or combinations thereof.

A GPS Antenna/receiver 331 can be any antenna, GPS puck, and/or receivercapable of receiving signals from a GPS satellite or other navigationsystem. The signals may be demodulated, converted, interpreted, etc. bythe GPS Antenna/receiver 331 and provided to the location module 333.Thus, the GPS Antenna/receiver 331 may convert the time signals from theGPS system and provide a location (e.g., coordinates on a map) to thelocation module 333. Alternatively, the location module 333 caninterpret the time signals into coordinates or other locationinformation.

The location module 333 can be the controller of the satellitenavigation system designed for use in the vehicle 100. The locationmodule 333 can acquire position data, as from the GPS Antenna/receiver331, to locate the user or vehicle 100 on a road in the unit's mapdatabase 335. Using the road database 335, the location module 333 cangive directions to other locations along roads also in the database 335.When a GPS signal is not available, the location module 333 may applydead reckoning to estimate distance data from sensors 304 including oneor more of, but not limited to, a speed sensor attached to the drivetrain of the vehicle 100, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, etc.Additionally, or alternatively, the location module 333 may use knownlocations of Wi-Fi hotspots, cell tower data, etc. to determine theposition of the vehicle 100, such as by using time difference of arrival(TDOA) and/or frequency difference of arrival (FDOA) techniques.

The maps database 335 can include any hardware and/or software to storeinformation about maps, geographical information system (GIS)information, location information, etc. The maps database 335 caninclude any data definition or other structure to store the information.Generally, the maps database 335 can include a road database that mayinclude one or more vector maps of areas of interest. Street names,street numbers, house numbers, and other information can be encoded asgeographic coordinates so that the user can find some desireddestination by street address. Points of interest (waypoints) can alsobe stored with their geographic coordinates. For example, a point ofinterest may include speed cameras, fuel stations, public parking, and“parked here” (or “you parked here”) information. The maps database 335may also include road or street characteristics, for example, speedlimits, location of stop lights/stop signs, lane divisions, schoollocations, etc. The map database contents can be produced or updated bya server connected through a wireless system in communication with theInternet, even as the vehicle 100 is driven along existing streets,yielding an up-to-date map.

The vehicle control system 348, when operating in L4 or L5 and based onsensor information from the external and interior vehicle sensors, cancontrol the driving behavior of the vehicle in response to the currentvehicle location, sensed object information, sensed vehicle occupantinformation, vehicle-related information, exterior environmentalinformation, and navigation information from the maps database 335.

The sensed object information refers to sensed information regardingobjects external to the vehicle. Examples include animate objects suchas animals and attributes thereof (e.g., animal type, current spatiallocation, current activity, etc.), and pedestrians and attributesthereof (e.g., identity, age, sex, current spatial location, currentactivity, etc.), and the like and inanimate objects and attributesthereof such as other vehicles (e.g., current vehicle state or activity(parked or in motion or level of automation currently employed),occupant or operator identity, vehicle type (truck, car, etc.), vehiclespatial location, etc.), curbs (topography and spatial location),potholes (size and spatial location), lane division markers (type orcolor and spatial locations), signage (type or color and spatiallocations such as speed limit signs, yield signs, stop signs, and otherrestrictive or warning signs), traffic signals (e.g., red, yellow, blue,green, etc.), buildings (spatial locations), walls (height and spatiallocations), barricades (height and spatial location), and the like.

The sensed occupant information refers to sensed information regardingoccupants internal to the vehicle. Examples include the number andidentities of occupants and attributes thereof (e.g., seating position,age, sex, gaze direction, biometric information, authenticationinformation, preferences, historic behavior patterns (such as current orhistorical user driving behavior, historical user route, destination,and waypoint preferences), nationality, ethnicity and race, languagepreferences (e.g., Spanish, English, Chinese, etc.), current occupantrole (e.g., operator or passenger), occupant priority ranking (e.g.,vehicle owner is given a higher ranking than a child occupant),electronic calendar information (e.g., Outlook™), and medicalinformation and history, etc.

The vehicle-related information refers to sensed information regardingthe selected vehicle. Examples include vehicle manufacturer, type,model, year of manufacture, current geographic location, current vehiclestate or activity (parked or in motion or level of automation currentlyemployed), vehicle specifications and capabilities, currently sensedoperational parameters for the vehicle, and other information.

The exterior environmental information refers to sensed informationregarding the external environment of the selected vehicle. Examplesinclude road type (pavement, gravel, brick, etc.), road condition (e.g.,wet, dry, icy, snowy, etc.), weather condition (e.g., outsidetemperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed and direction, etc.),ambient light conditions (e.g., time-of-day), degree of development ofvehicle surroundings (e.g., urban or rural), and the like.

In a typical implementation, the automated vehicle control system 348,based on feedback from certain sensors, specifically the LIDAR and radarsensors positioned around the circumference of the vehicle, constructs athree-dimensional map in spatial proximity to the vehicle that enablesthe automated vehicle control system 348 to identify and spatiallylocate animate and inanimate objects. Other sensors, such as inertialmeasurement units, gyroscopes, wheel encoders, sonar sensors, motionsensors to perform odometry calculations with respect to nearby movingexterior objects, and exterior facing cameras (e.g., to perform computervision processing) can provide further contextual information forgeneration of a more accurate three-dimensional map. The navigationinformation is combined with the three-dimensional map to provide short,intermediate and long range course tracking and route selection. Thevehicle control system 348 processes real-world information as well asGPS data, and driving speed to determine accurately the precise positionof each vehicle, down to a few centimeters all while making correctionsfor nearby animate and inanimate objects.

The vehicle control system 348 can process in substantial real time theaggregate mapping information and models (or predicts) behavior ofoccupants of the current vehicle and other nearby animate or inanimateobjects and, based on the aggregate mapping information and modeledbehavior, issues appropriate commands regarding vehicle operation. Whilesome commands are hard-coded into the vehicle, such as stopping at redlights and stop signs, other responses are learned and recorded byprofile updates based on previous driving experiences. Examples oflearned behavior include a slow-moving or stopped vehicle or emergencyvehicle in a right lane suggests a higher probability that the carfollowing it will attempt to pass, a pot hole, rock, or other foreignobject in the roadway equates to a higher probability that a driver willswerve to avoid it, and traffic congestion in one lane means that otherdrivers moving in the same direction will have a higher probability ofpassing in an adjacent lane or by driving on the shoulder.

FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of the instrument panel 400 of the vehicle100. The instrument panel 400 of vehicle 100 comprises a steering wheel410, a vehicle operational display 420 (e.g., configured to presentand/or display driving data such as speed, measured air resistance,vehicle information, entertainment information, etc.), one or moreauxiliary displays 424 (e.g., configured to present and/or displayinformation segregated from the operational display 420, entertainmentapplications, movies, music, etc.), a heads-up display 434 (e.g.,configured to display any information previously described including,but in no way limited to, guidance information such as route todestination, or obstacle warning information to warn of a potentialcollision, or some or all primary vehicle operational data such asspeed, resistance, etc.), a power management display 428 (e.g.,configured to display data corresponding to electric power levels ofvehicle 100, reserve power, charging status, etc.), and an input device432 (e.g., a controller, touchscreen, or other interface deviceconfigured to interface with one or more displays in the instrumentpanel or components of the vehicle 100. The input device 432 may beconfigured as a joystick, mouse, touchpad, tablet, 3D gesture capturedevice, etc.). In some embodiments, the input device 432 may be used tomanually maneuver a portion of the vehicle 100 into a charging position(e.g., moving a charging plate to a desired separation distance, etc.).

While one or more of displays of instrument panel 400 may betouch-screen displays, it should be appreciated that the vehicleoperational display may be a display incapable of receiving touch input.For instance, the operational display 420 that spans across an interiorspace centerline 404 and across both a first zone 408A and a second zone408B may be isolated from receiving input from touch, especially from apassenger. In some cases, a display that provides vehicle operation orcritical systems information and interface may be restricted fromreceiving touch input and/or be configured as a non-touch display. Thistype of configuration can prevent dangerous mistakes in providing touchinput where such input may cause an accident or unwanted control.

In some embodiments, one or more displays of the instrument panel 400may be mobile devices and/or applications residing on a mobile devicesuch as a smart phone. Additionally, or alternatively, any of theinformation described herein may be presented to one or more portions420A-N of the operational display 420 or other display 424, 428, 434. Inone embodiment, one or more displays of the instrument panel 400 may bephysically separated or detached from the instrument panel 400. In somecases, a detachable display may remain tethered to the instrument panel.

The portions 420A-N of the operational display 420 may be dynamicallyreconfigured and/or resized to suit any display of information asdescribed. Additionally, or alternatively, the number of portions 420A-Nused to visually present information via the operational display 420 maybe dynamically increased or decreased as required, and are not limitedto the configurations shown.

FIG. 5 illustrates a hardware diagram of communications componentry thatcan be optionally associated with the vehicle 100 in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure.

The communications componentry can include one or more wired or wirelessdevices such as a transceiver(s) and/or modem that allows communicationsnot only between the various systems disclosed herein but also withother devices, such as devices on a network, and/or on a distributednetwork such as the Internet and/or in the cloud and/or with othervehicle(s).

The communications subsystem 350 can also include inter- andintra-vehicle communications capabilities such as hotspot and/or accesspoint connectivity for any one or more of the vehicle occupants and/orvehicle-to-vehicle communications.

Additionally, and while not specifically illustrated, the communicationssubsystem 350 can include one or more communications links (that can bewired or wireless) and/or communications busses (managed by the busmanager 574), including one or more of CANbus, OBD-II, ARCINC 429,Byteflight, CAN (Controller Area Network), D2B (Domestic Digital Bus),FlexRay, DC-BUS, IDB-1394, IEBus, 12C, ISO 9141-1/-2, J1708, J1587,J1850, J1939, ISO 11783, Keyword Protocol 2000, LIN (Local InterconnectNetwork), MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport), Multifunction VehicleBus, SMARTwireX, SPI, VAN (Vehicle Area Network), and the like or ingeneral any communications protocol and/or standard(s).

The various protocols and communications can be communicated one or moreof wirelessly and/or over transmission media such as single wire,twisted pair, fiber optic, IEEE 1394, MIL-STD-1553, MIL-STD-1773,power-line communication, or the like. (All of the above standards andprotocols are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety).

As discussed, the communications subsystem 350 enables communicationsbetween any of the inter-vehicle systems and subsystems as well ascommunications with non-collocated resources, such as those reachableover a network such as the Internet.

The communications subsystem 350, in addition to well-known componentry(which has been omitted for clarity), includes interconnected elementsincluding one or more of: one or more antennas 504, aninterleaver/deinterleaver 508, an analog front end (AFE) 512,memory/storage/cache 516, controller/microprocessor 520, MAC circuitry522, modulator/demodulator 524, encoder/decoder 528, a plurality ofconnectivity managers 534, 558, 562, 566, GPU 540, accelerator 544, amultiplexer/demultiplexer 552, transmitter 570, receiver 572 andadditional wireless radio components such as a Wi-Fi PHY/Bluetooth®module 580, a Wi-Fi/BT MAC module 584, additional transmitter(s) 588 andadditional receiver(s) 592. The various elements in the device 350 areconnected by one or more links/busses 5 (not shown, again for sake ofclarity).

The device 350 can have one more antennas 504, for use in wirelesscommunications such as multi-input multi-output (MIMO) communications,multi-user multi-input multi-output (MU-MIMO) communications Bluetooth®,LTE, 4G, 5G, Near-Field Communication (NFC), etc., and in general forany type of wireless communications. The antenna(s) 504 can include, butare not limited to one or more of directional antennas, omnidirectionalantennas, monopoles, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas,dipoles, and any other antenna(s) suitable for communicationtransmission/reception. In an exemplary embodiment,transmission/reception using MIMO may require particular antennaspacing. In another exemplary embodiment, MIMO transmission/receptioncan enable spatial diversity allowing for different channelcharacteristics at each of the antennas. In yet another embodiment, MIMOtransmission/reception can be used to distribute resources to multipleusers for example within the vehicle 100 and/or in another vehicle.

Antenna(s) 504 generally interact with the Analog Front End (AFE) 512,which is needed to enable the correct processing of the receivedmodulated signal and signal conditioning for a transmitted signal. TheAFE 512 can be functionally located between the antenna and a digitalbaseband system in order to convert the analog signal into a digitalsignal for processing and vice-versa.

The subsystem 350 can also include a controller/microprocessor 520 and amemory/storage/cache 516. The subsystem 350 can interact with thememory/storage/cache 516 which may store information and operationsnecessary for configuring and transmitting or receiving the informationdescribed herein. The memory/storage/cache 516 may also be used inconnection with the execution of application programming or instructionsby the controller/microprocessor 520, and for temporary or long termstorage of program instructions and/or data. As examples, thememory/storage/cache 520 may comprise a computer-readable device, RAM,ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, and/or other storage device(s) and media.

The controller/microprocessor 520 may comprise a general purposeprogrammable processor or controller for executing applicationprogramming or instructions related to the subsystem 350. Furthermore,the controller/microprocessor 520 can perform operations for configuringand transmitting/receiving information as described herein. Thecontroller/microprocessor 520 may include multiple processor cores,and/or implement multiple virtual processors. Optionally, thecontroller/microprocessor 520 may include multiple physical processors.By way of example, the controller/microprocessor 520 may comprise aspecially configured Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) orother integrated circuit, a digital signal processor(s), a controller, ahardwired electronic or logic circuit, a programmable logic device orgate array, a special purpose computer, or the like.

The subsystem 350 can further include a transmitter(s) 570, 588 andreceiver(s) 572, 592 which can transmit and receive signals,respectively, to and from other devices, subsystems and/or otherdestinations using the one or more antennas 504 and/or links/busses.Included in the subsystem 350 circuitry is the medium access control orMAC Circuitry 522. MAC circuitry 522 provides for controlling access tothe wireless medium. In an exemplary embodiment, the MAC circuitry 522may be arranged to contend for the wireless medium and configure framesor packets for communicating over the wired/wireless medium.

The subsystem 350 can also optionally contain a security module (notshown). This security module can contain information regarding but notlimited to, security parameters required to connect the device to one ormore other devices or other available network(s), and can include WEP orWPA/WPA-2 (optionally+AES and/or TKIP) security access keys, networkkeys, etc. The WEP security access key is a security password used byWi-Fi networks. Knowledge of this code can enable a wireless device toexchange information with an access point and/or another device. Theinformation exchange can occur through encoded messages with the WEPaccess code often being chosen by the network administrator. WPA is anadded security standard that is also used in conjunction with networkconnectivity with stronger encryption than WEP.

In some embodiments, the communications subsystem 350 also includes aGPU 540, an accelerator 544, a Wi-Fi/BT/BLE (Bluetooth® Low-Energy) PHYmodule 580 and a Wi-Fi/BT/BLE MAC module 584 and optional wirelesstransmitter 588 and optional wireless receiver 592. In some embodiments,the GPU 540 may be a graphics processing unit, or visual processingunit, comprising at least one circuit and/or chip that manipulates andchanges memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame bufferfor output to at least one display device. The GPU 540 may include oneor more of a display device connection port, printed circuit board(PCB), a GPU chip, a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor(MOSFET), memory (e.g., single data rate random-access memory (SDRAM),double data rate random-access memory (DDR) RAM, etc., and/orcombinations thereof), a secondary processing chip (e.g., handling videoout capabilities, processing, and/or other functions in addition to theGPU chip, etc.), a capacitor, heatsink, temperature control or coolingfan, motherboard connection, shielding, and the like.

The various connectivity managers 534, 558, 562, 566 manage and/orcoordinate communications between the subsystem 350 and one or more ofthe systems disclosed herein and one or more other devices/systems. Theconnectivity managers 534, 558, 562, 566 include a charging connectivitymanager 534, a vehicle database connectivity manager 558, a remoteoperating system connectivity manager 562, and a sensor connectivitymanager 566.

The charging connectivity manager 534 can coordinate not only thephysical connectivity between the vehicle 100 and a chargingdevice/vehicle, but can also communicate with one or more of a powermanagement controller, one or more third parties and optionally abilling system(s). As an example, the vehicle 100 can establishcommunications with the charging device/vehicle to one or more ofcoordinate interconnectivity between the two (e.g., by spatiallyaligning the charging receptacle on the vehicle with the charger on thecharging vehicle) and optionally share navigation information. Oncecharging is complete, the amount of charge provided can be tracked andoptionally forwarded to, for example, a third party for billing. Inaddition to being able to manage connectivity for the exchange of power,the charging connectivity manager 534 can also communicate information,such as billing information to the charging vehicle and/or a thirdparty. This billing information could be, for example, the owner of thevehicle, the driver/occupant(s) of the vehicle, company information, orin general any information usable to charge the appropriate entity forthe power received.

The vehicle database connectivity manager 558 allows the subsystem toreceive and/or share information stored in the vehicle database. Thisinformation can be shared with other vehicle components/subsystemsand/or other entities, such as third parties and/or charging systems.The information can also be shared with one or more vehicle occupantdevices, such as an app (application) on a mobile device the driver usesto track information about the vehicle 100 and/or a dealer orservice/maintenance provider. In general, any information stored in thevehicle database can optionally be shared with any one or more otherdevices optionally subject to any privacy or confidentiallyrestrictions.

The remote operating system connectivity manager 562 facilitatescommunications between the vehicle 100 and any one or more autonomousvehicle systems. These communications can include one or more ofnavigation information, vehicle information, other vehicle information,weather information, occupant information, or in general any informationrelated to the remote operation of the vehicle 100.

The sensor connectivity manager 566 facilitates communications betweenany one or more of the vehicle sensors (e.g., the driving vehiclesensors and systems 304, etc.) and any one or more of the other vehiclesystems. The sensor connectivity manager 566 can also facilitatecommunications between any one or more of the sensors and/or vehiclesystems and any other destination, such as a service company, app, or ingeneral to any destination where sensor data is needed.

In accordance with one exemplary embodiment, any of the communicationsdiscussed herein can be communicated via the conductor(s) used forcharging. One exemplary protocol usable for these communications isPower-line communication (PLC). PLC is a communication protocol thatuses electrical wiring to simultaneously carry both data, andAlternating Current (AC) electric power transmission or electric powerdistribution. It is also known as power-line carrier, power-line digitalsubscriber line (PDSL), mains communication, power-linetelecommunications, or power-line networking (PLN). For DC environmentsin vehicles PLC can be used in conjunction with CAN-bus, LIN-bus overpower line (DC-LIN) and DC-BUS.

The communications subsystem can also optionally manage one or moreidentifiers, such as an IP (Internet Protocol) address(es), associatedwith the vehicle and one or other system or subsystems or componentsand/or devices therein. These identifiers can be used in conjunctionwith any one or more of the connectivity managers as discussed herein.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of a computing environment 600 thatmay function as the servers, user computers, or other systems providedand described herein. The computing environment 600 includes one or moreuser computers, or computing devices, such as a vehicle computing device604, a communication device 608, and/or more 612. The computing devices604, 608, 612 may include general purpose personal computers (including,merely by way of example, personal computers, and/or laptop computersrunning various versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows® and/or AppleCorp.'s Macintosh® operating systems) and/or workstation computersrunning any of a variety of commercially-available UNIX® or UNIX-likeoperating systems. These computing devices 604, 608, 612 may also haveany of a variety of applications, including for example, database clientand/or server applications, and web browser applications. Alternatively,the computing devices 604, 608, 612 may be any other electronic device,such as a thin-client computer, Internet-enabled mobile telephone,and/or personal digital assistant, capable of communicating via anetwork 352 and/or displaying and navigating web pages or other types ofelectronic documents or information. Although the exemplary computingenvironment 600 is shown with two computing devices, any number of usercomputers or computing devices may be supported.

The computing environment 600 may also include one or more servers 614,616. In this example, server 614 is shown as a web server and server 616is shown as an application server. The web server 614, which may be usedto process requests for web pages or other electronic documents fromcomputing devices 604, 608, 612. The web server 614 can be running anoperating system including any of those discussed above, as well as anycommercially-available server operating systems. The web server 614 canalso run a variety of server applications, including SIP (SessionInitiation Protocol) servers, HTTP(s) servers, FTP servers, CGI servers,database servers, Java® servers, and the like. In some instances, theweb server 614 may publish operations available operations as one ormore web services.

The computing environment 600 may also include one or more file andor/application servers 616, which can, in addition to an operatingsystem, include one or more applications accessible by a client runningon one or more of the computing devices 604, 608, 612. The server(s) 616and/or 614 may be one or more general purpose computers capable ofexecuting programs or scripts in response to the computing devices 604,608, 612. As one example, the server 616, 614 may execute one or moreweb applications. The web application may be implemented as one or morescripts or programs written in any programming language, such as Java®,C, C#®, or C++, and/or any scripting language, such as Perl, Python, orTCL, as well as combinations of any programming/scripting languages. Theapplication server(s) 616 may also include database servers, includingwithout limitation those commercially available from Oracle®,Microsoft®, Sybase®, IBM® and the like, which can process requests fromdatabase clients running on a computing device 604, 608, 612.

The web pages created by the server 614 and/or 616 may be forwarded to acomputing device 604, 608, 612 via a web (file) server 614, 616.Similarly, the web server 614 may be able to receive web page requests,web services invocations, and/or input data from a computing device 604,608, 612 (e.g., a user computer, etc.) and can forward the web pagerequests and/or input data to the web (application) server 616. Infurther embodiments, the server 616 may function as a file server.Although for ease of description, FIG. 6 illustrates a separate webserver 614 and file/application server 616, those skilled in the artwill recognize that the functions described with respect to servers 614,616 may be performed by a single server and/or a plurality ofspecialized servers, depending on implementation-specific needs andparameters. The computer systems 604, 608, 612, web (file) server 614and/or web (application) server 616 may function as the system, devices,or components described in FIGS. 1-6.

The computing environment 600 may also include a database 618. Thedatabase 618 may reside in a variety of locations. By way of example,database 618 may reside on a storage medium local to (and/or residentin) one or more of the computers 604, 608, 612, 614, 616. Alternatively,it may be remote from any or all of the computers 604, 608, 612, 614,616, and in communication (e.g., via the network 352) with one or moreof these. The database 618 may reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”)familiar to those skilled in the art. Similarly, any necessary files forperforming the functions attributed to the computers 604, 608, 612, 614,616 may be stored locally on the respective computer and/or remotely, asappropriate. The database 618 may be a relational database, such asOracle 20i®, that is adapted to store, update, and retrieve data inresponse to SQL-formatted commands.

FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a computer system 700 upon whichthe servers, user computers, computing devices, or other systems orcomponents described above may be deployed or executed. The computersystem 700 is shown comprising hardware elements that may beelectrically coupled via a bus 704. The hardware elements may includeone or more central processing units (CPUs) 708; one or more inputdevices 712 (e.g., a mouse, a keyboard, etc.); and one or more outputdevices 716 (e.g., a display device, a printer, etc.). The computersystem 700 may also include one or more storage devices 720. By way ofexample, storage device(s) 720 may be disk drives, optical storagedevices, solid-state storage devices such as a random access memory(“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable,flash-updateable and/or the like.

The computer system 700 may additionally include a computer-readablestorage media reader 724; a communications system 728 (e.g., a modem, anetwork card (wireless or wired), an infra-red communication device,etc.); and working memory 736, which may include RAM and ROM devices asdescribed above. The computer system 700 may also include a processingacceleration unit 732, which can include a DSP, a special-purposeprocessor, and/or the like.

The computer-readable storage media reader 724 can further be connectedto a computer-readable storage medium, together (and, optionally, incombination with storage device(s) 720) comprehensively representingremote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plus storagemedia for temporarily and/or more permanently containingcomputer-readable information. The communications system 728 may permitdata to be exchanged with a network and/or any other computer describedabove with respect to the computer environments described herein.Moreover, as disclosed herein, the term “storage medium” may representone or more devices for storing data, including read only memory (ROM),random access memory (RAM), magnetic RAM, core memory, magnetic diskstorage mediums, optical storage mediums, flash memory devices and/orother machine readable mediums for storing information.

The computer system 700 may also comprise software elements, shown asbeing currently located within a working memory 736, including anoperating system 740 and/or other code 744. It should be appreciatedthat alternate embodiments of a computer system 700 may have numerousvariations from that described above. For example, customized hardwaremight also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented inhardware, software (including portable software, such as applets), orboth. Further, connection to other computing devices such as networkinput/output devices may be employed.

Examples of the processors 340, 708 as described herein may include, butare not limited to, at least one of Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 800 and 801,Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 620 and 615 with 4G LTE Integration and 64-bitcomputing, Apple® A7 processor with 64-bit architecture, Apple® M7motion coprocessors, Samsung® Exynos® series, the Intel® Core™ family ofprocessors, the Intel® Xeon® family of processors, the Intel® Atom™family of processors, the Intel Itanium® family of processors, Intel®Core® i5-4670K and i7-4770K 22 nm Haswell, Intel® Core® i5-3570K 22 nmIvy Bridge, the AMD® FX™ family of processors, AMD® FX-4300, FX-6300,and FX-8350 32 nm Vishera, AMD® Kaveri processors, Texas Instruments®Jacinto C6000™ automotive infotainment processors, Texas Instruments®OMAP™ automotive-grade mobile processors, ARM® Cortex™-M processors,ARM® Cortex-A and ARM926EJ-S™ processors, other industry-equivalentprocessors, and may perform computational functions using any known orfuture-developed standard, instruction set, libraries, and/orarchitecture.

360 surround vision technology reconstructs one or more views of theworld around the car using images from wide angle fisheye camerasmounted around the vehicle. These views are then presented to the userin one of the digital cockpit display screens as a guidance for parkingand narrow lane driving scenarios. Most state-of-the-art systems firstcreate a virtual 3D bowl or dish of fixed mesh geometry, then map thecamera images into this bowl mesh, then render a virtual 2D or 3D viewof this bowl to the user. This 3D bowl has overlap zones where data isavailable from multiple cameras. For example, in a typical 4-camerasurround system, there will be four overlap zones, the front left, thefront right, the rear left and the rear right. In these overlap zones,each camera will project objects slightly differently based on cameracalibration and the physics of the type of projection. This creates somemisalignment of objects in the overlap zones in geometry and color.State of the art systems attempt to minimize the misalignment throughvarious methods, some show a hard seam boundary dividing the cameras,some systems blend the pixels in a way the seam is less visible.However, they all choose a fixed seam line based on camera geometry.

We propose a novel method where the seam line is not fixed, but insteaddynamically varies for each overlap region based on the real-worldobjects present in that region. This novel method significantly improvesthe visibility and clarity of objects in the overlap regions in thereconstructed 360 views.

FIG. 8 is top down view of vehicle 100 in accordance with at least someembodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, vehicle 100comprises a number of cameras, such as camera 802 and camera 804.Cameras 802 and 804 may be a portion additional cameras of vehicle 100providing additional views of the surroundings of vehicle 100. Camera802 and/or camera 804 may comprise an embodiment of imaging sensor 116A,116F whereby visual information is received for processing and/orpresentation on a display, such as at least one of vehicle operationaldisplay 420A-N, one or more auxiliary displays 424 (e.g., configured topresent and/or display information segregated from the operationaldisplay 420, entertainment applications, movies, music, etc.), and/or aheads-up display 434 (e.g., configured to display any informationpreviously described including, but in no way limited to, guidanceinformation such as route to destination, or obstacle warninginformation to warn of a potential collision, or some or all primaryvehicle operational data such as speed, resistance, etc.).

In one embodiment, object 810 is visible within field of view 806 ofcamera 802, as well as, begin visible within field of view 808 of camera804. As will be described more completely with respect to theembodiments that follow, a unified image, whereby the images produced bycameras 802 and 804 are combined to avoid errors that may otherwise beproduced when combining images from cameras having different vantages.Such errors may provide erroneous artifacts or comprise blind spots thatmay give a user of the unified image (e.g., a human operator viewing adisplay and/or a navigation processor) erroneous information about thevehicle's surroundings. It should be appreciated that the images ofcameras 802 and 804 are video images providing a real-time visualinformation regarding the surroundings of vehicle 100. While cameras 802and 804 are generally described to operate in the visible spectrum, itshould be appreciated that other wavelengths (e.g., infrared, microwave,etc.) and/or mechanical waves (e.g., ultrasonic) may also be utilized.When presenting image content on a display for a human observer,additional or alternative processing may be required to convertnon-visible image data into a representation for presentation to a humanor processor.

In one embodiment, object 810 is a physically present object, such as awall, pole, tree, column, sign, pedestrian, other vehicle, etc. Inanother embodiment, object 810 may be a void in a physical object, suchas the roadway (or other surface utilized by vehicle 100 for travelthereon). For example, the void in the roadway may take the form of apothole, washout, storm drain, or other absence of the roadway. Inanother embodiment, objects may be ignored for further processing byprocessor, such as one or more CPUs 708, if the object is determined tobe of no consequence, such as trash, leaves, or voids of a limiteddimension, that if physically engaged by vehicle 100 or a portionthereof, such as a tire or bumper, no damage to vehicle 100 orimpairment of operation of vehicle 100 is determined likely to occur.Similarly, damage to the object may also be determined to be withoutconsequence (e.g., running over a leaf, negligible contact with a plant,etc.) such that the object may be ignored. However, objects that aredetermined to have a deferential consequence for vehicle 100 and/orobject 810 itself are further considered for detection and avoidancethereof.

FIG. 9 is a display 902 presenting images thereon in accordance with atleast some embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment,image 920 illustrates top portion of vehicle 100. Image 920 may bestored in memory or obtained from a roof-mounted camera, such as imagingsystem 112. Display 902 illustrates four regions, region 1 (904), region2 (906), region 3 (908), and region 4 (910) associated with seam anglebetween regions. The field of view of four cameras (not shown) may havea wider field of view, which may be fixed or variable, and each camerais attached to vehicle 100 and seeing at one of the aforementionedregions 904, 906, 908, and 910. It should be appreciated that any numberof cameras, being at least two, may be utilized without departing fromthe scope of the embodiments disclosed. In one embodiment, one cameraprovides images for one region. However, in other embodiments, a cameramay provide images for two regions. For example, a camera may be placedon the rear corner and provide some or all of the images for region 1(904) and region 4 (910).

In one embodiment, the angles formed by any one of regions 904, 906,908, and 910 is selected to cover at least a portion omitted from aneighboring one of regions 904, 906, 908, and 910. For example, theangle of the seam selected for region 1 (904) may be determined, atleast in part, by setting the angle of the seam of view region 4 (910)and adjusting the field of view presented in region 1 (904) to omitblind spots and omit (or at least reduce) duplicate coverage. In otherwords, the narrowing of one region may be made in conjunction with thewidening of a neighboring region. Selecting of the region angle for anyone or more of the regions may be done by a processor operable to crop,resize, or otherwise process an image via manipulating image data and/orphysically adjust a component of at least one camera to cause the imagefalling on a sensor, such as a charged coupled device (CCD), to bealtered. Additionally or alternatively, more or fewer cameras may beselectively utilized. For example, both region 1 (904) and region 4(910) may be angularly narrowed and the resulting blind spottherebetween covered by engaging or utilizing an additional camera, suchas imaging sensor 116K of FIG. 2.

It should be appreciated that blending of multiple camera images into aunified image has greater utility if an object proximate to vehicle 100is shown in the correct location relative to the vehicle and withoutduplication or omission. However, when an object is visible in tworegions, which may result from the object being captured by two cameras,arbitrarily selecting the transition (whether gradual or abrupt) betweenregions will allow the object to become duplicated, distorted, oromitted near or at the transition. As a result, an observer of such aunified image may be unaware of the existence or extent of the hazardpresented by the object.

FIG. 10 is display 1000 presenting images thereon in accordance with atleast some embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment,display 1000 is the same as display 902 but with the altered anglesformed by one or more of the regions illustrating fields of view asprovided with respect to certain embodiments herein. In one embodiment,a processor, such as one or more CPUs 708 receives information, such asdistance information to an object, and alters the field of view of oneor more cameras (not show) affixed to vehicle 100. Accordingly, theresulting angular width of one or more of region 1 (1010), region 2(1012), region 3 (1014), and/or region 4 (1016) may differ from thecorresponding angular width of region 1 (904), region 2 (906), region 3(908), and region 4 (910), respectively.

The angular width of any one or more regions may be vary symmetrically,such as region 1 (1010) being narrowed, compared to the angular width ofregion 1 (904) symmetrically along the longitudinal axis of vehicleimage 920. In another embodiment, region 3 (1014) is asymmetricallynarrowed, compared to the angular width of region 3 (908). Regions 2 and4 (1012, 1016) may be expanded to cover the surroundings of vehicle 100caused by the narrowing of regions 1 and 3 (1010, 1014).

FIG. 11 is fisheye distortion mask 110 in accordance with at least someembodiments of the present disclosure. An image produced by one or morecameras, such as camera 802 and/or camera 804 may be undistorted,however, deployment of cameras with a fisheye lens produces images thatobtain a wide field of view, which is often preferable for vehicleapplications. Fisheye distortion mask 110 may be utilized with aprocessor to correct a raw image reported by a camera with a fisheyelens. The lines of fisheye distortion mask 110 represent parallel andperpendicular lines that are distorted due to the fisheye lens. Aprocessor, such as one or more CPUs 708, may take an image and utilizingfisheye distortion mask 110, cause the image to be corrected in whole orin part. Additionally or alternatively, other corrections may beapplied, such as trapezoidal corrections that are particular useful inproviding an approximate appearance of an object, such as object 810, asif it were viewed from above even though the image is captured fromcameras mounted lower (e.g., bumper, mirror, body panel, etc. of vehicle100).

FIG. 12 is camera image 1200 in accordance with at least someembodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment image 1200illustrates a view from camera 802 of object 810 (e.g., a pole, pillar,etc.) when camera 802 utilizes a fisheye lens. As such horizontal line1204 is an image of a horizontal element (e.g., horizon, roadway edge,wall, etc.) but appears curved, similarly, object 810 may be observed asobject image 1202, which is curved.

FIG. 13 is camera image 1300 in accordance with at least someembodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment image 1300illustrates a view from camera 808 of object 810 (e.g., a pole, pillar,etc.) when camera 808 utilizes a fisheye lens. As such horizontal line1304 is an image of a horizontal element (e.g., horizon, roadway edge,wall, etc.) but appears curved, similarly, object 810 may be observed asobject image 1302, which is curved.

Combining images 1200 and 1300 into one unified image, which may befurther modified to provide a synthetic top-down view, may requireflatten the images, such as to give the appearance of a higher viewingperspective. In another embodiment, the top-down view is a 360 degree ofthe surroundings around vehicle image 920. Additionally, while image1200 comprises object image 1202 and image 1300 comprises object image1302, only one image 810 exists. As is explained in other embodimentsherein, the viewing angle width of one camera may be expanded orcontracted. Additionally or alternatively, a neighboring camera'sviewing angle may be contracted or expanded in a complementary manner toprovide coverage of an object of interest, such as object 810, by oneand only one camera as well as avoiding any blind spots in the coverageof the vehicle's surroundings.

FIG. 14 is graph 1400 depicting the field of view angle of a camera inaccordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. Inone embodiment, graph 1400 illustrates a viewing angle width of acamera, such as camera 802, as determined by proximity to an object,such as object 810. In one embodiment, objects closer than 150 cm areviewed with camera providing a viewing angle of 30 degrees and objectfarther than 150 cm are viewed with the camera providing a viewing angleof 60 degrees, the transmission occurring in accordance with the sigmoidfunction illustrated by graph 1400. It should be appreciated that otherfunctions may be utilized as a matter of design choice to determine theangle of the field of view for a give object distance.

FIG. 15 is unified view 1500 of a vehicle's surroundings in accordancewith at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. In oneembodiment, unified view 1500 may comprise a plurality of cameras, eachproducing a portion of unified view 1500. To avoid unnecessarilycomplicating the figures and description, on the images provided bycameras 802 and 804 are considered. However, it should be appreciatedthat any two cameras, of a two or more cameras, wherein an object iswithin, or potentially within, the field of view of each may be utilizedwithout departing from the scope of the embodiments provided.

Unified view 1500 may comprise vehicle image 920 retrieved from memoryor obtained from roof-top camera (not shown) to provide a synthetictop-down view. It should be appreciated that the term “synthetic” refersto the appearance of an image of vehicle 100 as if observed from abovevehicle 100 and looking down thereon, while the image or portionsthereof, are obtained from cameras that are located below the roof lineof vehicle 100, such as on a side-view mirror (e.g., camera 804) and/orbumper (e.g., camera 802).

In one embodiment, camera 802 is configured to provide a field thatranges from of a wide-angle, delineated by seam angle 1502A and 1502Band having a first seam angle width (θ₁), to a narrow-angle, delineatedby boarder 1504A and 1504B and having a second angle width (θ₂).Similarly, camera 804 is configured to provide a field that ranges fromof a wide-angle, delineated by boarder 1506A and 1506B and having athird angle width (θ₃), to a narrow-angle, delineated by boarder 1508Aand 1508B and having a second angle width (θ₄). As previously mentioned,in one embodiment, the angle of a field of view may be determined by anadjustment of the camera itself or, in another embodiment, the clipping,cropping, or other image processing performed by a processor to providea particular region, such as one seam defined by seam angles 1502A-B,1504A-B, 1506A-B, and/or 1508A-B or an asymmetric region, such asboarded by seam angle 1502A-1504B, 1502B-1504A, 1506B-1508A, and/or1506A-1508B. In one embodiment, the width of the second angle and/orthird angle is a physical limit to the width of the field of view forcamera 802, 804, respectively. In another embodiment, any one or more ofthe first, second, third, or forth angles is determined via aconfiguration, installation, or design choice.

In one embodiment, object image 1510 is presented on unified display1500. Each of camera 804 and 802 are capable of observing object 810 toprovide an image thereof. In one embodiment, camera 802 is configured tohave first angle field of view and camera 804 is configured to havethird angle field of view. As a result, the portion of unified image1500 that includes object image 1510 is solely from camera 804. Inanother embodiment, camera 802 is configured to have second angle fieldof view and camera 804 is configured to have fourth angle field of view.As a result, the portion of unified image 1500 that includes objectimage 1510 is solely from camera 802.

The selection of which one of cameras 802 or 804 will provide objectimage 1510 is variously embodied. In one embodiment, if object 810(providing object image 1510) is 150 cm or closer to vehicle 100, thencamera 802 is configured to provide the image via the second angle fieldof view. Alternatively, if object 810 is 150 cm or farther, camera 804is configured to provide the image via third viewing angle. The locationof the boarder delineating the portion of unified image 1500 is providedby camera 802 and which is provided by camera 804 is more fullydescribed with respect to FIGS. 9 and 10.

In another embodiment, the processor may observe the image from one ormore cameras and obtain a mask (e.g., a geometry of the object asobserved). The interior of the mask may be a portion of the objectobserved by one camera while the exterior of the mask maybe the scene asobserved from the other camera. In yet another embodiment, thedirectional mode of vehicle 100 may be utilized to determine the anglefor a region. For example, vehicle 100 may be currently in “drive”(energizing the motor(s) causes vehicle 100 to move forward) and object810 producing object image 1510, being behind the centroid of vehicleimage 920, being less likely to be a hazard to vehicle 100 movingforward. Accordingly, the image, such as one from camera 802 may benarrowed to angle 1 and/or the angle from camera 804 widened to anglethree. Conversely, if vehicle 100 is in “reverse” (energizing themotor(s) causes vehicle 100 to move forward), widening the imageprovided by camera 802 to angle two may allow object image 1510 to bemore prominent as it more likely represents a hazard to vehicle 100 ifbacking up.

In yet another embodiment, the distance to the object may be observed bycameras (stereoscopic measurements) and/or other sensing components,such as RADAR sensors (e.g., object-detection sensors and/or systems),SONAR, LIDAR systems as described herein and variants thereof.

FIG. 16 is process 1600 in accordance with at least some embodiments ofthe present disclosure. In one embodiment, process 1600 may be executedby one or more processors, such as CPU(s) 708. Process 1600 may executestep 1605 to initialize cameras and position sensors, such as to performstartup diagnostics, pointing calibration, and/or other operations toimprove the accuracy thereof. Step 1610 receives sensor data, such as toprovide distance information to an object or to the nearest object. Step1615 receives image data from the cameras, such as camera 802 and 804.

Test 1620 determines if an object is detected, such as object 810. Iftest 1620 is determined in the affirmative, test 1630 determines if theobject is located beyond a threshold distance and/or position relativeto vehicle 100. If test 1630 is determined in the affirmative, or iftest 1620 is determined in the negative, step 1625 may configure theviewing angles of the cameras and/or the images produced by the camerasfor distant objects. The threshold utilized in test 1630 is variouslyembodied and, in one embodiment comprises a sigmoid function with athreshold of 150 cm. It should be appreciated that other methodologiesmay be utilized to determine a particular threshold value.

Upon test 1630 determining the object is not at a greater than thresholddistance, step 1635 narrows the field of view of one camera, such ascamera 802 when object 810 is closer than 150 cm. Test 1630 may fill-inthe gap in the angle of view caused by camera 802 operating at anarrowed field of view, such as to cause camera 804 to operate at awider field of view. Step 1630 stitches together the images and mayoptionally provide other image processing to produce a unified image,such as a unified image depicting a top-down view of vehicle 100constructed from portions of a plurality of the cameras' images. Step1630 then presents the unified image on a display for a human user toutilize and/or to a processor as an input to one or more autonomousdriving functions, such as to disable moving vehicle 100 in a mannerthan would impact object 810.

Any of the steps, functions, and operations discussed herein can beperformed continuously and automatically.

The exemplary systems and methods of this disclosure have been describedin relation to vehicle systems and electric vehicles. However, to avoidunnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure, the precedingdescription omits a number of known structures and devices. Thisomission is not to be construed as a limitation of the scope of theclaimed disclosure. Specific details are set forth to provide anunderstanding of the present disclosure. It should, however, beappreciated that the present disclosure may be practiced in a variety ofways beyond the specific detail set forth herein.

Furthermore, while the exemplary embodiments illustrated herein show thevarious components of the system collocated, certain components of thesystem can be located remotely, at distant portions of a distributednetwork, such as a LAN and/or the Internet, or within a dedicatedsystem. Thus, it should be appreciated, that the components of thesystem can be combined into one or more devices, such as a server,communication device, or collocated on a particular node of adistributed network, such as an analog and/or digital telecommunicationsnetwork, a packet-switched network, or a circuit-switched network. Itwill be appreciated from the preceding description, and for reasons ofcomputational efficiency, that the components of the system can bearranged at any location within a distributed network of componentswithout affecting the operation of the system.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links connectingthe elements can be wired or wireless links, or any combination thereof,or any other known or later developed element(s) that is capable ofsupplying and/or communicating data to and from the connected elements.These wired or wireless links can also be secure links and may becapable of communicating encrypted information. Transmission media usedas links, for example, can be any suitable carrier for electricalsignals, including coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, andmay take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generatedduring radio-wave and infra-red data communications.

While the flowcharts have been discussed and illustrated in relation toa particular sequence of events, it should be appreciated that changes,additions, and omissions to this sequence can occur without materiallyaffecting the operation of the disclosed embodiments, configuration, andaspects.

A number of variations and modifications of the disclosure can be used.It would be possible to provide for some features of the disclosurewithout providing others.

In yet another embodiment, the systems and methods of this disclosurecan be implemented in conjunction with a special purpose computer, aprogrammed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integratedcircuit element(s), an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digitalsignal processor, a hard-wired electronic or logic circuit such asdiscrete element circuit, a programmable logic device or gate array suchas PLD, PLA, FPGA, PAL, special purpose computer, any comparable means,or the like. In general, any device(s) or means capable of implementingthe methodology illustrated herein can be used to implement the variousaspects of this disclosure. Exemplary hardware that can be used for thepresent disclosure includes computers, handheld devices, telephones(e.g., cellular, Internet enabled, digital, analog, hybrids, andothers), and other hardware known in the art. Some of these devicesinclude processors (e.g., a single or multiple microprocessors), memory,nonvolatile storage, input devices, and output devices. Furthermore,alternative software implementations including, but not limited to,distributed processing or component/object distributed processing,parallel processing, or virtual machine processing can also beconstructed to implement the methods described herein.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be readilyimplemented in conjunction with software using object or object-orientedsoftware development environments that provide portable source code thatcan be used on a variety of computer or workstation platforms.Alternatively, the disclosed system may be implemented partially orfully in hardware using standard logic circuits or VLSI design. Whethersoftware or hardware is used to implement the systems in accordance withthis disclosure is dependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirementsof the system, the particular function, and the particular software orhardware systems or microprocessor or microcomputer systems beingutilized.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be partiallyimplemented in software that can be stored on a storage medium, executedon programmed general-purpose computer with the cooperation of acontroller and memory, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, orthe like. In these instances, the systems and methods of this disclosurecan be implemented as a program embedded on a personal computer such asan applet, JAVA® or CGI script, as a resource residing on a server orcomputer workstation, as a routine embedded in a dedicated measurementsystem, system component, or the like. The system can also beimplemented by physically incorporating the system and/or method into asoftware and/or hardware system.

Although the present disclosure describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the disclosure is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Other similar standards and protocols not mentioned hereinare in existence and are considered to be included in the presentdisclosure. Moreover, the standards and protocols mentioned herein andother similar standards and protocols not mentioned herein areperiodically superseded by faster or more effective equivalents havingessentially the same functions. Such replacement standards and protocolshaving the same functions are considered equivalents included in thepresent disclosure.

The present disclosure, in various embodiments, configurations, andaspects, includes components, methods, processes, systems and/orapparatus substantially as depicted and described herein, includingvarious embodiments, subcombinations, and subsets thereof. Those ofskill in the art will understand how to make and use the systems andmethods disclosed herein after understanding the present disclosure. Thepresent disclosure, in various embodiments, configurations, and aspects,includes providing devices and processes in the absence of items notdepicted and/or described herein or in various embodiments,configurations, or aspects hereof, including in the absence of suchitems as may have been used in previous devices or processes, e.g., forimproving performance, achieving ease, and/or reducing cost ofimplementation.

The foregoing discussion of the disclosure has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description. The foregoing is not intendedto limit the disclosure to the form or forms disclosed herein. In theforegoing Detailed Description for example, various features of thedisclosure are grouped together in one or more embodiments,configurations, or aspects for the purpose of streamlining thedisclosure. The features of the embodiments, configurations, or aspectsof the disclosure may be combined in alternate embodiments,configurations, or aspects other than those discussed above. This methodof disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention thatthe claimed disclosure requires more features than are expressly recitedin each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventiveaspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosedembodiment, configuration, or aspect. Thus, the following claims arehereby incorporated into this Detailed Description, with each claimstanding on its own as a separate preferred embodiment of thedisclosure.

Moreover, though the description of the disclosure has includeddescription of one or more embodiments, configurations, or aspects andcertain variations and modifications, other variations, combinations,and modifications are within the scope of the disclosure, e.g., as maybe within the skill and knowledge of those in the art, afterunderstanding the present disclosure. It is intended to obtain rights,which include alternative embodiments, configurations, or aspects to theextent permitted, including alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalentstructures, functions, ranges, or steps to those claimed, whether or notsuch alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions,ranges, or steps are disclosed herein, and without intending to publiclydedicate any patentable subject matter.

Embodiments include a method for processing images of a vehicle'ssurroundings, a vehicle comprising methods and systems for processingimages of the vehicle's surroundings, a processor configured withinstructions to perform processing operations on images of a vehicle'ssurroundings, non-transitory computer-readable medium includinginstruction to cause at least one processor to perform the instructionscomprising operations on images of a vehicle's surroundings, comprising:obtaining a first image from a first camera having a first vantage ofthe vehicle's surroundings; obtaining a second image from a secondcamera having a second vantage of the vehicle's surroundings that isdifferent from the first vantage; determining whether an image of anobject is present within the field of view of both the first camera andthe second camera; upon determining the object is present, selecting aportion of the first image and a portion of the second image to includethe image of the object in one of the portion of the first image or theportion of the second image and not both; and stitching together theportion of the first image and portion of the second image into aunified image.

Embodiments include a method for processing images of a vehicle'ssurroundings, a vehicle comprising methods and systems for processingimages of the vehicle's surroundings, a processor configured withinstructions to perform processing operations on images of a vehicle'ssurroundings, non-transitory computer-readable medium includinginstruction to cause at least one processor to perform the instructionscomprising operations on images of a vehicle's surroundings, comprising:a first camera having a first vantage of the vehicle's surroundings; asecond camera having a second vantage of the vehicle's surroundings; aprocessor receiving image data from each of the first camera and thesecond camera; wherein the processor obtains a first image from thefirst camera; wherein the processor obtains a second image from thesecond camera; wherein the processor determines whether an image of anobject is present within the field of view of both the first camera andthe second camera; wherein the processor, upon determining the object ispresent, selects a portion of the first image and a portion of thesecond image to include the image of the object in one of the portion ofthe first image or the portion of the second image and not both; andwherein the processor stitches together the portion of the first imageand portion of the second image into a unified image.

Embodiments include a method for processing images of a vehicle'ssurroundings, a vehicle comprising methods and systems for processingimages of the vehicle's surroundings, a processor configured withinstructions to perform processing operations on images of a vehicle'ssurroundings, non-transitory computer-readable medium includinginstruction to cause at least one processor to perform the instructionscomprising operations on images of a vehicle's surroundings, comprising:a power source; a motor selectively connected to the power source toprovide locomotive force to the vehicle; a cabin to convey therein atleast one human; a first camera having a first vantage of the vehicle'ssurroundings; a second camera having a second vantage of the vehicle'ssurroundings; a processor receiving image data from each of the firstcamera and the second camera; wherein the processor obtains a firstimage from the first camera; wherein the processor obtains a secondimage from the second camera; wherein the processor determines whetheran image of an object is present within the field of view of both thefirst camera and the second camera; wherein the processor, upondetermining the object is present, selects a portion of the first imageand a portion of the second image to include the image of the object inone of the portion of the first image or the portion of the second imageand not both; and wherein the processor stitches together the portion ofthe first image and portion of the second image into a unified image.

Aspects of the above method system, vehicle, processor, and/orinstructions include: monitoring the relative distance between theobject and the vehicle; and in response to a change in the relativedistance, reselecting the portion of the first image and the portion ofthe second image to maintain the image of the object in one of theportion of the first image or the portion of the second image and notboth.

Aspects of the above method, system, vehicle, processor, and/orinstructions include: presenting the unified image on a display withinthe vehicle.

Aspects of the above method, system, vehicle, processor, and/orinstructions include: converting the unified image into a synthetictop-down view of the vehicle's surroundings.

Aspects of the above method, system, vehicle, processor, and/orinstructions include: wherein the selection of the portion of the firstimage and the portion of the second image is further selected based onthe distance of the object further comprising selecting an angle of thefirst portion of the image in accordance with the distance of the objectapplied to a sigmoid function.

Aspects of the above method, system, vehicle, processor, and/orinstructions include: wherein the sigmoid function is bounded by a rangeof the angle of the first image.

Aspects of the above method, system, vehicle, processor, and/orinstructions include: wherein the range of the angle of the firstportion is between 30 and 60 degrees and transitions therebetween asobject distances transition from substantially 150 cm and closer tosubstantially 150 cm and farther, respectively.

Aspects of the above method, system, vehicle, processor, and/orinstructions include: wherein selecting the portion of the first imageand the portion of the second image to include the image of the objectin one of the portion of the first image or the portion of the secondimage and not both, further comprises obtaining an outline of theobject, making a mask from the outline, and providing, as a firstportion of the unified image, an image of the interior of the outlinefrom one of the first image or the second image and providing, as asecond portion of the unified image, an image of the exterior of theoutline from the other of the first image or second image.

Aspects of the above method, system, vehicle, processor, and/orinstructions include: wherein the object comprises an irregular featureof the roadway determined to represent a hazard to at least one of thevehicle or the object if at least a portion of the vehicle were tocontact the object.

Aspects of the above method, system, vehicle, processor, and/orinstructions include wherein the selection of the portion of the firstimage and the portion of the second image is further selected based on acurrently selected direction of travel of the vehicle and comprisesselecting an angle of the first portion of the image in accordance withthe one of the first image or second image most-facing the direction oftravel.

Any one or more of the aspects/embodiments as substantially disclosedherein.

Any one or more of the aspects/embodiments as substantially disclosedherein optionally in combination with any one or more otheraspects/embodiments as substantially disclosed herein.

One or means adapted to perform any one or more of the aboveaspects/embodiments as substantially disclosed herein.

The phrases “at least one,” “one or more,” “or,” and “and/or” areopen-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive inoperation. For example, each of the expressions “at least one of A, Band C,” “at least one of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” “oneor more of A, B, or C,” “A, B, and/or C,” and “A, B, or C” means Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, or A, B and C together.

The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. Assuch, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more,” and “at least one” can beused interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms“comprising,” “including,” and “having” can be used interchangeably.

The term “automatic” and variations thereof, as used herein, refers toany process or operation, which is typically continuous orsemi-continuous, done without material human input when the process oroperation is performed. However, a process or operation can beautomatic, even though performance of the process or operation usesmaterial or immaterial human input, if the input is received beforeperformance of the process or operation. Human input is deemed to bematerial if such input influences how the process or operation will beperformed. Human input that consents to the performance of the processor operation is not deemed to be “material.”

Aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of an embodimentthat is entirely hardware, an embodiment that is entirely software(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” or “system.”Any combination of one or more computer-readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signalmedium or a computer-readable storage medium.

A computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limitedto, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combinationof the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of thecomputer-readable storage medium would include the following: anelectrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computerdiskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory(ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flashmemory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or anysuitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document,a computer-readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that cancontain or store a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

A computer-readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer-readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer-readable signal medium may be any computer-readable medium thatis not a computer-readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program codeembodied on a computer-readable medium may be transmitted using anyappropriate medium, including, but not limited to, wireless, wireline,optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of theforegoing.

The terms “determine,” “calculate,” “compute,” and variations thereof,as used herein, are used interchangeably and include any type ofmethodology, process, mathematical operation or technique.

The term “electric vehicle” (EV), also referred to herein as an electricdrive vehicle, may use one or more electric motors or traction motorsfor propulsion. An electric vehicle may be powered through a collectorsystem by electricity from off-vehicle sources, or may be self-containedwith a battery or generator to convert fuel to electricity. An electricvehicle generally includes a rechargeable electricity storage system(RESS) (also called Full Electric Vehicles (FEV)). Power storage methodsmay include: chemical energy stored on the vehicle in on-board batteries(e.g., battery electric vehicle or BEV), on board kinetic energy storage(e.g., flywheels), and/or static energy (e.g., by on-board double-layercapacitors). Batteries, electric double-layer capacitors, and flywheelenergy storage may be forms of rechargeable on-board electrical storage.

The term “hybrid electric vehicle” refers to a vehicle that may combinea conventional (usually fossil fuel-powered) powertrain with some formof electric propulsion. Most hybrid electric vehicles combine aconventional internal combustion engine (ICE) propulsion system with anelectric propulsion system (hybrid vehicle drivetrain). In parallelhybrids, the ICE and the electric motor are both connected to themechanical transmission and can simultaneously transmit power to drivethe wheels, usually through a conventional transmission. In serieshybrids, only the electric motor drives the drivetrain, and a smallerICE works as a generator to power the electric motor or to recharge thebatteries. Power-split hybrids combine series and parallelcharacteristics. A full hybrid, sometimes also called a strong hybrid,is a vehicle that can run on just the engine, just the batteries, or acombination of both. A mid hybrid is a vehicle that cannot be drivensolely on its electric motor, because the electric motor does not haveenough power to propel the vehicle on its own.

The term “rechargeable electric vehicle” or “REV” refers to a vehiclewith on board rechargeable energy storage, including electric vehiclesand hybrid electric vehicles.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for processing images of a vehicle'ssurroundings, comprising: obtaining a first image from a first camerahaving a first vantage of the vehicle's surroundings; obtaining a secondimage from a second camera having a second vantage of the vehicle'ssurroundings that is different from the first vantage; determiningwhether an object is present within a field of view of both the firstcamera and the second camera; upon determining that the object ispresent within the field of view, selecting a portion of the first imageand a portion of the second image to include an image of the object inone of the selected portion of the first image or the selected portionof the second image and not both the selected portion of the first imageand the selected portion of the second image; and stitching together theselected portion of the first image and selected portion of the secondimage into a unified image; and wherein the selection of the portion ofthe first image and the portion of the second image is further selectedbased on a distance of the object and further comprising selecting aseam angle of the portion of the first image in accordance with thedistance of the object applied to a sigmoid function.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: monitoring a relative position between theobject and the vehicle; and in response to a change in the relativeposition, reselecting the portion of the first image and the portion ofthe second image to maintain the image of the object in one of theportion of the first image or the portion of the second image and notboth.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising, presenting theunified image on a display within the vehicle.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising converting the unified image into a syntheticreconstructed view of the vehicle's surroundings.
 5. The method of claim1, wherein the sigmoid function is bounded by a range of the angle ofthe first image.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the range of the seamangle of the portion of the first image is between 30 and 60 degrees andtransitions therebetween as object distances transition fromsubstantially 150 cm and closer to substantially 150 cm and farther,respectively.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the portion ofthe first image and the portion of the second image to include the imageof the object in one of the portion of the first image or the portion ofthe second image and not both, further comprises obtaining an outline ofthe object, making a mask from the outline, and providing, as a firstportion of the unified image, an image of an interior of the outlinefrom one of the first image or the second image and providing, as asecond portion of the unified image, an image of an exterior of theoutline from the other of the first image or second image.
 8. The methodof claim 1, wherein the object comprises an irregular feature of aroadway determined to represent a hazard to at least one of the vehicleor the object if at least a portion of the vehicle were to contact theobject.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the selection of the portionof the first image and the portion of the second image is furtherselected based on a currently selected direction of travel of thevehicle and comprises selecting an angle of the portion of the firstimage in accordance with the one of the first image or second imagemost-facing a direction of travel.
 10. A system for processing images ofa vehicle's surroundings, comprising: a first camera having a firstvantage of the vehicle's surroundings; a second camera having a secondvantage of the vehicle's surroundings; a processor receiving image datafrom each of the first camera and the second camera; wherein theprocessor obtains a first image from the first camera; wherein theprocessor obtains a second image from the second camera; wherein theprocessor determines whether an object is present within a field of viewof both the first camera and the second camera; wherein the processor,upon determining that the object is present within the field of view,selects a portion of the first image and a portion of the second imageto include an image of the object in one of the selected portion of thefirst image or the selected portion of the second image and not both theselected portion of the first image and the selected portion of thesecond image; wherein the processor stitches together the selectedportion of the first image and selected portion of the second image intoa unified image; and wherein the selection of the portion of the firstimage and the portion of the second image is further selected based on adistance of the object and further comprising selecting a seam angle ofthe portion of the first image in accordance with the distance of theobject applied to a sigmoid function.
 11. The system of claim 10,further comprising: a display device within a cabin of the vehicle; andwherein the processor provides the unified image for display by thedisplay device.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the processorconverts the unified image into a synthetic reconstructed view of thevehicle's surroundings for display on the display device.
 13. The systemof claim 10, further comprising: a distance measuring component; andwherein the processor receives distance information to the object fromthe distance measuring component; and wherein the processor, in responseto a change in a relative distance between the vehicle and the object,reselects the portion of the first image and the portion of the secondimage to maintain the image of the object in one of the portion of thefirst image or the portion of the second image and not both.
 14. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein the sigmoid function is bounded by a rangeof the angle of the portion of the first image and is between 30 and 60degrees and transitions therebetween as object distances transition fromsubstantially 150 cm and closer to substantially 150 cm and farther,respectively.
 15. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor selectsthe portion of the first image and the portion of the second image toinclude the image of the object in one of the portion of the first imageor the portion of the second image and not both, further comprises theprocessor obtaining an outline of the object, making a mask from theoutline, and providing, as a first portion of the unified image, animage of an interior of the outline from one of the first image or thesecond image and providing, as a second portion of the unified image, animage of an exterior of the outline from the other of the first image orsecond image.
 16. The system of claim 10, wherein the object comprisesan irregular feature of a roadway determined to represent a hazard to atleast one of the vehicle or the object if at least a portion of thevehicle were to contact the object.
 17. A vehicle, comprising: a powersource; a motor selectively connected to the power source to providelocomotive force to the vehicle; a cabin to convey therein at least onehuman; a first camera having a first vantage of the vehicle'ssurroundings; a second camera having a second vantage of the vehicle'ssurroundings; a processor receiving image data from each of the firstcamera and the second camera; wherein the processor obtains a firstimage from the first camera; wherein the processor obtains a secondimage from the second camera; wherein the processor determines whetheran image of an object is present within a field of view of both thefirst camera and the second camera; wherein the processor, upondetermining the object is present, selects a portion of the first imageand a portion of the second image to include the image of the object inone of the selected portion of the first image or the selected portionof the second image and not both the selected portion of the first imageand the selected portion of the second image; wherein the processorstitches together the selected portion of the first image and selectedportion of the second image into a unified image; wherein the selectionof the portion of the first image and the portion of the second image isfurther selected based on a distance of the object and furthercomprising selecting a seam angle of the portion of the first image inaccordance with the distance of the object applied to a sigmoidfunction.
 18. The vehicle of claim 17, further comprising: a displaydevice within the cabin of the vehicle; and wherein the processorprovides the unified image for display by the display device.
 19. Thevehicle of claim 18, wherein the processor converts the unified imageinto a synthetic reconstructed view of the vehicle's surroundings fordisplay on the display device.
 20. The vehicle of claim 17, wherein theselection of the portion of the first image and the portion of thesecond image is further selected based on a currently selected directionof travel of the vehicle and comprises selecting an angle of the portionof the first image in accordance with the one of the first image orsecond image most-facing a direction of travel.